


Windborn

by silentflightfeathers



Series: Windborn [1]
Category: Naruto
Genre: ANBU are dumb as usual, Alternate Universe - Bakery, Awkward Flirting, BAMF Hatake Kakashi, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Fugaku is done w/ ur shit sarutobi, Fugaku-sensei, Hayao has no chill, Head Injury, Hot Springs, I promise the character tags make sense later, Mangekyou Sharingan, Multi, Non-Binary Chara, Pakkun is not hawk food, Slow Romance, This Is Why We Can't Have Nice Things, naruto - Freeform, shizukagan
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-06-22
Updated: 2018-11-08
Packaged: 2018-11-17 10:30:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 17
Words: 33,379
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11273646
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/silentflightfeathers/pseuds/silentflightfeathers
Summary: So maybe trying to fold an OC into Naruto canon was a bad idea but IMMA DO IT ANYWAY.





	1. Darkness

Fugaku Uchiha met the ANBU black ops member outside of the black zone. It wasn’t quite a dome around the building- the blackness was too… ephemeral… at its edges, but it was certainly a large and seemingly impenetrable wall of darkness that the shinobi around them seemed reluctant to enter.

Then again, they’d been instructed to secure the area, not confront the person creating the shadows. That was his job.

“The area is secure, Lord Fugaku,” the ANBU member- Eagle, he remembered- reported. “Are you certain of this? ANBU has a seal we can…”

Fugaku turned his sharingan-red eyes on Eagle. “That will be unnecessary,” he replied. The ANBU Eagle bowed.

Nobody in this village minded sacrificing an Uchiha to an impenetrable blackness.

Fugaku stepped through the shadowy edge. He could see the building itself- just as he could before he had stepped into the black dome- but it was as if it was at midnight, not the early morning it was outside. He tried to keep his mind blank and open.

He stepped over the first corpse just inside the door to the bakery- the building was a bakery- and found a second one leaned against the wall. He paused, listening. The place smelled like blood and sugar. It was quiet but for some soft rustling in the opposite corner. _There you are_. Quietly, carefully, he paced towards that corner, as if it was the hiding place of something wild he didn’t want to spook. He was careful to avoid the broken tables and the other corpses in the way.

When he was close enough he could hear the quiet hiccupy breaths of the person curled defensively under a countertop. “Shh. Kaze-chan, you’re safe,” he breathed, “it’s me. It’s just me. No one is going to harm you.” He was only a few feet away, and crouched, so he could see when she- it was a girl- lifted her face off her knees. Her eyes were like the night sky, black and starry. He locked her gaze with his sharingan and the blackness tore. Perfectly normal mid-morning light illuminated the wreck that had been a bakery. Her eyes turned golden brown, two shades lighter than her hair would have been, without all the blood in it.

“Sensei?” she whispered. The bandages around her head were spattered with gore, tears had left pink streaks through the blood on her face. She had to drop a bloody kunai so she could collapse into his chest. He rocked his student and let her weep. “Sensei!” He made quiet, calming noises as her words fought with her tears. “I couldn’t control it. Th-they a-attacked me and I _reacted I couldn’t- I just- Sensei what do I do?! I’m a m-monster!”_

“Kaze-chan. _Sleep.”_ he said, and his eighteen-year-old student went boneless. He checked her for wounds as the shinobi surrounding Himitsu Bakery, her home, surrounded them. There was only the head injury from a mission gone so very wrong- and the wounds to her spirit. He picked her up and faced his comrades- opponents?- with her cradled against him. “I am taking her to the med-center.”

One of the ANBU members toed a corpse. It was- the best description for it was _shredded._ In the light he could see the armbands that meant they were affiliated with a warlord in another country. One of the countries that had put his student in their bingo book.

“It was self-defense,” he told them. He couldn’t read their expressions behind their masks, but their body language was easy enough to read- they were scared.

One of them ripped an armband off of the corpse by the door. “These are Karaku’s mercenaries.”

“Do you think they were after her?”

“Why else would they be in the village?”

The chatter was annoying. He took a step towards the door and stopped when they all flinched. Eagle stepped forward and beckoned at two others. “We’ll escort you to the med-center, Lord Fugaku. You lot! Arrange for clean-up.”

 

~!~

 

The Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, met him outside of her hospital room. Fugaku had to work not to snarl. “They think the head injury has affected her ability to control her dojutsu,” he said defensively. Kazeko Nosuri, his former student, was a jonin of the Hidden Leaf. She would not have needed the _Himitsu Sayo,_ the strongest of her family’s attack genjutsu, to defend herself from lowly mercenaries.

Hiruzen gazed at the door solemnly. “The med-nin tell me that her recovery may take years,” he replied. “She had such promise. It is a shame”

 _What are you going to do, Sarutobi?_ “She can stay with my family while she recovers. We will keep her safe.”

The hokage waved a dismissive hand at him. “I do not think that will be necessary. She will be more comfortable in her own home. I have arranged for her to have a bodyguard while she recovers. In the meantime, she can enjoy an early retirement.”

 _She is going to hate that._ “I see. You know best, Lord Hokage.”

“Fugaku-San…” but Fugaku had already left.

Hiruzen steeled himself and went to speak with the jonin in the hospital bed. She startled when he stepped in. He watched the _Shizukagan,_ her family’s dojutsu, flash in her eyes before they returned to her normal brown. _Oh, little Kaze-chan. What has happened to you?_

“Hokage-sama!” She squeaked, “I’m sorry, the nurses said I’m not supposed to sit up.”

“Then you should stay as you are,” he responded with a smile, the fatherly smile that made his village loved him. “The doctors tell me that you will be able to return home soon.”

She had looked happy to see him, but her face fell. “They couldn’t fix my head,” she admitted sourly. “I’m not safe to be around anymore.”

He patted her hand. The nurses had cleaned the blood off of it. “You have a long recovery ahead of you,” he agreed, “but you will recover. In the meantime, you will have some help. Do not trouble yourself, Kazeko-chan. Just rest for now.”

 

~!~

 

Kazeko scowled at the chunin encamped in her home. He didn’t flinch.

“I cannot _believe_ you are what the Hokage meant when he said _help_.”

Rai smiled genially. “But here I am, Senpai!”

She put her hand over her face. “Aren’t you supposed to be keeping me calm, or something?”

“Nope! I’m supposed to kill any hostile shinobi with extreme prejudice, and slap this seal on your face if you go all crazy!” He flapped a piece of paper at her. “But you’re pretty scary, Senpai, so I don’t think anyone’s gonna come after you again. I’m probably gonna be bored!”

 _Bored, huh._ Kazeko crossed her arms. “Since you’re going to be so _bored,_ kid, you can help me get this place ready to open.”

That gave him pause. “Uh- come again?”

She grinned at him. It wasn’t friendly. “I’m bored just sitting here. I’m going to open this bakery back up again. Since I’m stuck with you, you’re going to learn how to help me run it.”

“Uhh… the Hokage didn’t mention that as part of the mission…”

She leaned towards him. “I’ll teach you new Jutsu.”

“Deal!”

 

6 Months later

 

Kazeko stood at attention in the Hokage’s office. Rai was a step to her right. The Hokage and the council faced her in a united front. She was glad Rai had tied his seal to her wrist so that she could hide it behind her. She had a feeling her review wasn’t going to be positive.

The Hokage cleared his throat. “Kazeko Nosuri. The council has determined that your recovery has been insufficient to return you to active duty. The decision has been made to retire you permanently.”

“But Hokage-sama!” She began. His scowl cut her off.

“However, since you are a valuable member of this village and there have been continued threats to your safety, Rai Shirutobe will remain as your bodyguard for the foreseeable future. That is all.”

“Yes, Hokage-sama.” She kept her voice as neutral as possible.

The Hokage softened. “It will be all right, Kazeko. Run your bakery. Start a family. Retirement is not the end of the world, just as you are not the end of your clan.”

She bowed. When she turned on her heel and left without another word, Rai bowed and left with her. She didn’t hear the council’s opinion.

“No discipline.”

“Disrespectful.”

“Gets it from her _Uchiha sensei_ , no doubt.”

“The Shizukagan is important to this village,” the Hokage rumbled. “Her cousin’s children are unlikely to develop it.”

“Her cousin’s children are _Uchihas,_ ” Danzo replied.


	2. The Beginning

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Team 7 meets that weird baker next door and dang, those are some good tarts.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OK so this is actually a fix. Being the first thing I ever posted on Ao3 and having no idea what I was doing, I made this a series instead of chapters. >.< Windborn as a series still exists, but I'm making all of its parts into chapters like I should have in the first place. It will have drabbles and such in the future, I'm just making life a little easier for myself right now. Though it sadly means losing all the lovely kudos from cool readers *waves good-bye to all 7 accolades*

Kazeko Nosuri wasn’t sure her garden was going to survive this mission. “Okay, you three. Today the cherries in my orchard need to be picked.” _Was this Uzumaki kid really about to-_ “Naruto! _Sit_.” He sat. She hadn’t trained three chunin how to run a bakery for nothing. “But you’re proud shinobi of the Leaf! I’ll give you a challenge- pick as many as you can, but you have to use a jutsu to do it.”

“Ha! That’s easy. I’ll pick ‘em all! Believe it!”

“Shut up, Naruto! You can’t even pick your _nose_.”

“What’s that supposed to mean, Sasuke?! I bet I can pick more than you!”

“ _Pipe down, you two._ ” Miraculously, they did- though it probably had as much to do with that slight furrowing of their sensei, Kakashi’s brow. “Just listen to the mission.”

She gave him a slight nod, in acknowledgement. “In addition, the first person to find the cherry I’ve marked like this one,” she held up one tiny fruit with her clan’s symbol cut into it, “wins.”

Both Naruto and Sasuke gave each other glares worthy of a Kabuki drama. Sakura, just a slip of a girl with her forehead protector holding back her long pink hair, raised her hand. “Yes?”

“Kazeko-san, I don’t understand. We’re supposed to pick cherries today, but there aren’t any cherry trees.”

 _Noticed that, did we?_ “You’re right, Sakura. There aren’t any to be seen.”

“Hey, what are you tryin’ ta pull, lady?” Naruto bounced up to his feet, glaring indignantly at the rows of vegetables and herbs.

“Nothing at all. Your mission begins _when you find the cherry trees.”_

All three genin bounced to their feet and scattered, looking for cherries.

“Clever,” the jonin next to her remarked. _I wonder what he looks like without his mask on._ It wasn’t the first time she’d wondered. Since his back window overlooked her garden, she saw him quite often. Never without his mask, however. She was almost certain he wore it in his sleep.

“It keeps wayward genin out of my orchard.” Naruto was sniffing around the second Torii gate. “Ah, there we go.” Naruto began gesticulating wildly in the direction of the gate. The genjutsu didn’t cover the smell of ripe fruit.

“Sharingan!” That would be Sasuke.

“Release!” Sakura. There went the genjutsu she’d put on the Torii gate. She’d have to redo it later.

“Nice teamwork,” she commented.

“Hmm?” She glanced over. Kakashi was giving her a quizzical look over- was that _Icha-Icha something-or-whatever? Really?_

“They’re a good team, Kakashi-san.”

There was the sudden sound of a dozen Naruto’s. “Oh, they have their moments.”

Fruit started flying over the orchard wall. “IN the baskets, Naruto!”

“Sorry!”

She sighed. Was she going to have cherry trees left? _Better keep an eye on them._ Two hops and she was perched on top of the wall that separated her garden from her orchard. She shifted and let one leg dangle off the side. No sound at all announced that Kakashi was again standing beside her, nose still in his book. The kids were hopping back and forth between her cherry trees and the baskets, twelve Naruto's just picking away, Sasuke using kunai and shuriken to cut stems, and Sakura was apparently using chakra flow to knock them off the branches. Kakashi sighed. The man was the _definition_ of laconic. Somehow that did not translate into someone her instincts didn’t scream at her about.

“Kazeko-sensei!” Her apprentice bounced out of the kitchen door. Michi, with their blond bob and crooked grin, _always_ bounced. Kakashi turned ever so slightly to the right, listening. _What would he do  if I shouted “boo!” right now…?_

“Yes?”

“A customer has a question about an order.”

She sighed. “I’ll be right there,” she called. “Please, excuse me, Kakashi-san.”

He gave her a little wave. “I’ll keep an eye on the cherries.” _Cute._   


~!~  


“Ha! I win!” Sasuke displayed the apple proudly, too busy gloating over Naruto to remember formality.

“Sasuke-chan. Well done.” She took the apple from him and tossed it in a basket. “Did you use _sharingan_?”

“... yes?” He suddenly looked as if he wondered if he maybe shouldn’t have.

She laughed and ruffled his hair. “Good job, baby cousin.”

“Kazeko-saaan..” he grumbled. “I’m not a _baby._ ”

Naruto snickered in the background. Kakashi looked the same as always, which meant he was actually listening intently.

“Of _course_ not,” she told him.

“What do I win?” He asked.

“You win the rest of the day off,” Kazeko told the genin. “And these three can haul the baskets inside.” She smirked at the surprised Jonin. Kakashi stuffed his book in his flak vest and went for a basket, suddenly all business. “Come on, you can help me finish these tarts.”

When the rest of his team came inside to hot cherry tarts, Sasuke won a few points with his teammates. Kazeko had simply enjoyed the quiet time to check up with how the boy- not really her cousin, despite that she usually referred to him as such- had been doing after his first real mission. She missed the chattery, excitable child he had been, but she’d take this quiet one over the other one she she saw in his eyes.

She worried about the one she saw in his eyes long after she’d sent them all home with thanks and extra tarts.  
  
One week later.

 

For a neighbor who had previously been the _definition_ of unsociable, Kakashi Hatake was spending a lot of time in Himitsu bakery, ordering tea and pastries. It’s not that it wasn’t a very nice bakery (it was), it was definitely that Kakashi was a shinobi with questionable social skills and no sweet tooth to speak of. _And he was rarely home._

“Do you need anything else, Kakashi-san?”

Kazeko Nosuri, five-six, dark brown hair put up in a simple bun, light brown eyes with a scar above her right eyebrow, two years younger than himself. Jonin, retired early. Bakes tarts. Lived above her bakery, two doors down from him. Apparently his student’s cousin. _That student. Who doesn’t have any family._

He realized that she’d been standing in front of him with a tray in her hand, waiting for him to answer. “Ah… No, thank you. I’m fine.” _Just ask, idiot._   
She smiled. Then, shockingly, sat down across from him and put her elbows on his table.

“Kakashi-san, I’m going to be rude for a bit,” she blurted. _Yes, yes you are._   
“You’re my cousin’s sensei,” she began, “I’m worried about him.”

 _Everyone was worried about Sasuke._ “Sasuke doesn’t have any cousins.”

Something in her eyes sparked bright white. _Hmm._  “He has an emergency contact listed as Kazeko Nosuri, his cousin, which is why you’ve been here and paid for tea you don’t drink five times this week.”

“Uh…”

“It’s also why you spent half of last evening watching me weed my garden out of your back window. Quit that, by the way. It’s creepy.”

“Eh…” _How did she know he was there?_

“So spit it out, Kakashi-san.”

“ _How_ are you the cousin of a boy whose entire family was slaughtered?” He blurted. _Very smooth, Kakashi. You are the epitome of shinobi._

“His clan and mine are- were- very close. Nosuri women and children, my cousins, were murdered with their Uchiha husbands and fathers. His father and mine were friends. Fugaku was my sensei after my father died. I babysat Sasuke and Itachi when they were small; I’ve watched him grow up.  We are not related by blood, but I am the closest thing he has to family left in this village. It doesn’t mean he isn’t still… well, Sasuke. So I worry.”

Kakashi winced. “Sasuke is very...focused on training. I’ll try to get him to visit more often.”

She grimaced. “Sasuke is very focused on _revenge._ Just… keep an eye on him. That’s all.”

Kakashi tried to give her a reassuring smile. “Sasuke is my student. I will do what’s best for him.”

“That’s all I ask.”

After that, she sat with him in companionable silence, until her assistant needed her attention, and he pulled out his book to read.

The tea was delicious.

 

~!~

 

Kakashi stopped by on occasion after that. Kazeko kept up a neighborly rapport with the jonin sensei (something neither of them had bothered to do before), and kept abreast of Sasuke’s ups and downs.

He kept spying on her from his window, but she didn’t bother scolding him again- he couldn’t see the side of her garden that she called ‘the sanctuary,’ with its hot pool and soothing greenery, so she didn’t worry. Though she did wonder why her strangely attractive neighbor- _really, what’s with the mask_ \-  kept watching her pull weeds. _Probably picked up some weird ideas from those novels he reads._

“Kazeko-san! Kazeko-san!” Something pink-haired and overly excited attached itself to her middle.

“Sakura-chan! What is it?” She glanced up at the other two genin in Team 7. They’d learned quickly after their mission that Sasuke’s connection meant they could stop by for free sweets whenever they wanted.

“Kakashi-sensei is letting us take the chunin exams,” Sasuke explained.

 _Oh, Sasuke._ “Is that so? You just graduated.”

He got that stubborn scowl. “I’m ready! I can do it!”

She ruffled his hair. “Of course you can. You’ve grown so much so quickly, it takes me by surprise every time.” That earned her one of his rare grins. _Gods, she missed that smile._ “Has Kakashi-sensei told you when the exams are happening?”

“Two weeks!”

She gave them a stern look. “What are you all doing here, then? Go train!”

They bounced away, but Sasuke paused when Kazeko called his name. “Yes, Aunt Kazeko?”

The look on her face was serious. “Sasuke-chan, the chunin exams are dangerous. Train hard and trust your team, okay? You won’t pass without them.”

“Don’t worry, Aunt Kazeko. I’m going to go train! Bye!”

“Bye, Sasuke-chan.”

Michi came out of the kitchen, dusting flour off of their hands. “Chunin exams, huh?”

Kazeko grimaced. “Have they gotten any easier in twelve years?” _Hers had left scars._

Michi just gave her a somber look. They’d passed theirs two years prior.

“Yeah, I didn’t think so. Come on. You need to work on your summoning.”

“Yes, Sensei.”

 

Two Days Later

 

The bell chimed through Himitsu Bakery as Kazeko was wiping down the low tables.

“I’ll be right with you.”

Hiruzen Sarutobi, the Third Hokage, stood in her doorway. “Good evening, Kazeko.”

“Hokage-sama!” She bowed. “Can I get you anything?”

He gestured at a low table. “Come, sit with me. Bring your excellent tea.”

When they had sat, and Kazeko had poured the tea, he began, in his solemn way, to explain why he was there. “Kazeko, you will have heard that the chunin exams are set to be soon.”

“Yes, Hokage-sama. Sasuke informed me earlier this week.”

He nodded. “This year’s exams will involve a large number of shinobi from other villages.”

She pursed her lips at her tea. “You wish me to stay out of sight while the other shinobi are in the village.”“I have gone to some trouble to convince the other Kage that the shinobi known as Ghost has been dead for several years. You are precious to this village and its future. If the jonin masters from the other Hidden villages recognize you, it will be difficult to guarantee your safety.”

“I could leave the village while the exams take place.”

He waved his hand dismissively. “That won’t be necessary. The Village Hidden in the Leaves does not exile its citizens for their own safety. You are safer here. And I _have_ asked you to stop leaving the village.”

“Yes, Hokage-sama.”

He sighed. “Kazeko, the future is going to catch up to you one day. I wish you would stop fighting it.”

“I can’t fight a future that can no longer exist, Hokage-sama. I can only run this bakery and wait.”

He fixed her with a gentle stare. “The future is not a fixed thing, Kaze-chan. You may be surprised in time.” He stood, his old bones stiff. “Well, I should be going. Who knows what mischief my grandson has gotten into now. Take care, Kazeko.”

“Take care, Hokage-sama,” she said quietly.

 

~!~

 

Kakashi trudged past Himitsu Bakery after a full day of genin-wrangling, tired and incurious about the Hokage’s robes walking down the road ahead of him. Still, his head turned to glance through the bakery’s door.

Kazeko was there, sitting at a table with her fists clenched and tears dripping off her chin.

_Hmm._

His neighbor was one hell of a mystery.

He went home.

 

Three Weeks Later

 

“What do you mean I can’t go see him?! He’s in the fucking _hospital! Let me go, Asuma!”_

“Kaze-chan, I can’t let you do that. Hokage’s orders were for you to _stay out of sight!”_

_“Out of sight?! I’ll show you out of sight!”_

When her eyes turned into blue and white stars and her edges started to flicker, Asuma clamped her to him and slapped a seal on her forehead. Her eyes rolled back in her head and she collapsed in his arms. “I’m so sorry, Kaze-chan,” he whispered. “It’s for your own good.”

Michi stepped up to him. “I’ll take her upstairs, Asuma-sensei.”

Asuma handed her over. “Keep an eye on her, Michi.”

Michi glared at him. “I’ll do my _job_ , Asuma-sensei.”

He held the paper seal out for them to take. “Just keep her safe, Michi.”

The chunin started up the stairs without taking the seal. “Tch. I am not _sealing_ my own _sensei,_ ” they growled.

He deflated. “She can’t help it, Michi.”

“Kazeko-sensei would _never_ hurt me, Asuma-sensei. You should believe in her more.”

Asuma watched their retreating back. “I do believe in her, Mi-chan,” he murmured. “I wish she believed in herself.”

 

~!~

 

Kakashi crouched in the window over Kazeko’s bed that night. She was awake, with a burn on her forehead that she hadn’t had the last time he’d seen her. She’d told him it was a kitchen accident. It looked like a burn from a seal.

“Orochimaru, huh?” She murmured. “Oh, Sasuke.”

“I sealed the curse mark. He’s going to be okay, he’s just wiped out. Everyone is on alert for Orochimaru and Kabuto.”

“I see,” she said softly. Her fingers clenched the blankets in her lap. “Thank you for keeping me updated, Kakashi.”

Kakashi pivoted to jump down, and her hand shot out to catch his wrist. “Hmm?”

The face she turned to him was haunted. “Tell him I’m sorry I can’t come to see him. Tell him to get better quickly and train hard. Tell him I lov… tell him I believe he’s going to be an excellent chunin. Tell him… tell him not to let _anybody_ hold him back.”

He gently extricated himself from her grip. “Don’t worry, Kazeko. I’ll keep an eye on him.”

“Thank you, Kakashi,” she whispered. Quiet lines of tears traced down her cheeks before she dashed them away and tried to hide them with a watery smile.

Kakashi climbed all the way inside and gathered her in his arms. It was awkward. _Of course it’s awkward. You’re cuddling your neighbor. Idiot._

Still, he couldn’t leave her while she clearly needed company.

And he got a closer look at the seal someone had burned into her forehead.

_Hmm._

 

One Month Later

 

“Kazeko-sensei, you’re pacing again.”

“Hmm? Oh, sorry, Michi. I just have a bad feeling.”

Michi peered closer at their sensei. “Sasuke is going to do fine. Kakashi-sensei has been training with him all month.”

Kazeko stared up at the ceiling, waiting for information to fall into her head. “I don’t know if that’s it, Mi-chan.”

A genin Kazeko had bribed to be an information runner burst into the shop. “Kazeko-san! Naruto Uzumaki beat Neji Hyuga! It was AWESOME!”

“That’s impressive,” she replied. “Has Sasuke’s match started yet?”

“Nobody’s seen him.”

Kazeko’s eyes slid to Michi’s. “Really.”

Michi shrugged. “Kakashi-sensei is _always_ late.”

The genin escaped the shop. The fights were too good to miss. Minutes slid past.

Then the floor started to shake.

And the sirens began to wail.

And Kazeko felt dozens of enemy shinobi breach the sector perimeter, brush against the edge of her awareness.

The first civilians ran into her shop, hoping to enter the tunnels underneath it and escape.

_It begins._

“Michi!” She barked, “Get the civilians in the tunnels!”

“Yes, Sensei!”

Kazeko stepped outside. Her flak vest still fit. It was chaos, just as it always was when the village was under attack. She did her part to evacuate the civilians in the neighborhood around the shop, starting at the opposite edge from where Michi was working. Two other chunin assigned to her area worked other quadrants. She took her kunai out of her pockets and cut down the shinobi who had breached the perimeter early, looking for a high body count. She was careful not to kill too many.  She kept going, working backwards to Himitsu Bakery.

Michi and the other two met her there. “Is that everyone?”

“Yes, Kazeko-sensei!”

“Right,” she said. “Let’s do this.”

Michi backed into the shop’s doorway. Their hands flew through several seals. They could just reach to press their palms onto the two decorative marks carved into the heavy timber jambs. Their face strained, lip curled and teeth bared, and the shop started to rumble. Then, with a shriek of twisting timber, the walls collapsed.

The entire row went down like dominos.

“Well done,” Kazeko said. “You two- get to your sectors. Remember to stay out of my area of effect.”

“Yes, sensei!”

“Michi,” she said, the note of command in her voice rich and dangerous, “There are two dozen enemy shinobi in this sector. Too many for half-measures. I’m going to go dark.”

Michi’s grin was toothy and predatory. “Sounds like fun, Sensei.”

She realized she was smiling back. “I think I might be a bad influence on you, Michi.”

“Naaahhh…”

“Ready?”

“Ready, Sensei!”

_“Shizukagan!”_

Kazeko’s eyes blazed into white and blue stars. She and Michi’s edges faded quickly, as if they were just confetti illusions blown away by the wind. _Himitsu,_ secret, the first stage of _Shizukagan_ , the dojutsu known as the Quiet Eye, was complete. Both she and Michi were completely undetectable.

_Are you ready, Michi? Remember, stay in my field of vision._

_Yes, Sensei!_

She concentrated. Her hands formed Tiger, Ox, Monkey, Rooster. _Himitsu Sayo!_

Blackness spread from a spot in front of a pile of rubble that used to be a bakery, growing thick and large enough to encompass the entire neighborhood. Kazeko and Michi leaped in unison, Michi a step ahead of their sensei, always.

Shinobi started to die. The only sensory input they had was the screams and death rattles of their comrades before they felt hard Konoha steel sink into their vital points.

Kazeko found it intensely satisfying.  


Michi could hear her laughter in their head. _Sensei. Quit being creepy; they can’t hear you._

 _Sorry, Michi._ Their kunai slit a throat, then she punctured an aorta. _That’s all of them._

_Are you dropping Sayo?_

_Yes. Close your eyes._

Light once again blazed through the district surrounding Himitsu bakery. It landed on Sand ninja corpses. Kazeko took several deep breaths.

 _Are you okay, sensei?_ Michi was standing on the roof above her, she knew.

_Fine, Michi. It’s just been a while. Sayo wipes me out._

Michi surveyed the village from their perch. _That was the first wave, Sensei. How much longer do you have?_

_I can use Himitsu for a few more hours. We should break and check in._

_Yes, Sensei._ Michi hopped down to the street next to her.

Kazeko’s eyes turned brown again. She and Michi flickered back into existence.

Michi shivered. “That always feels weird.”

Kazeko pushed the button on her wireless. “This is Ghost. Sector Three is secure.”

“Copy, Ghost. Sector Two could use some help. Rai and Tanbo will cover sector three.”

“Copy. Ghost will be secret. Please advise sector two.”

“Sector Two is advised. Out.”

“Ghost out.”

_Ready, Michi?_

_Let’s do this, Sensei._

 

~!~

 

Four hours later, Kazeko and Michi had collapsed in front of Himitsu Bakery, exhausted. They were leaning against the only things that were still upright- the two timbers that formed the bakery’s doorjamb. Michi had snagged water for them somewhere along the way.

The enemy had been eradicated.

The Hokage was dead. Michi had heard the news on the wireless an hour before.

Kazeko didn’t know whether or not that made her want to cry. Mostly, she was just exhausted. Her chakra levels were hovering right around “doesn’t really exist anymore” and her eyes ached like hellfire. Maybe tears would cool them down. She unwound her now-bloody white scarf from her face and flapped it at herself. _Ugh._

Footsteps came up the block. Someone was running in a panic. Kazeko decided she didn’t want to get up.

Asuma skidded to a stop in front of them. “Kazeko! What _happened?! Are you okay?”_

“Huh?” Kazeko glanced behind her at the rubble. “Oh, right. Sorry. Michi, do you think you could…?” She flapped her hands at the destruction.

Michi groaned. “Sure, Kazeko-sensei.” Their hands formed Tiger. “Release!”

Instantly, the entire block was just as it should be, not a brick out of place. Michi slumped over, completely spent after releasing the genjutsu.

Kazeko gave Asuma a wan smile. “Usually enemies leave a place alone if they think they’ve already destroyed it.”

“You are _insane._ ”

 

~!~

 

Many of the villages’ jonin had gathered in Himitsu bakery after the Hokage’s funeral. Kazeko gave her comrades sake and listened as they reminisced on the man they had all lost. She appreciated the company- being busy kept her from crying, though she still wasn’t certain why she felt inclined to mourn.

The Hokage may have been a father figure to the village, but he had still done her no favors in the past six years.

She wandered out to the garden. There were shinobi here as well, scattered and clearly needing solitude.

She found Asuma cradling his nephew on the patio. “How’s he doing?”

“He’s out,” he replied, “finally.”

She sat next to him. “I can put him upstairs if you like. No one will bother him up there.”

Asuma shifted the unconscious boy so he had an arm free to put over her shoulders. “How are you doing?”

She looked over all the black shinobi robes in her garden. “I don’t know. It hasn’t sunk in yet. You?”

“No,” he said quietly. “I suppose it hasn’t sunk in yet for me either.”

She reached for Konohamaru. Asuma gave him one last squeeze and handed him over. “I’ll put him on the couch upstairs. Go find Kurenai, Asuma-chan. She’s inside.”

He tapped a cigarette out of his pack. “I will in a minute.”

“Okay.” She paused. “Hey, Asuma?”

“Hmm?”

“Thanks, for… you know. Being there. When you didn’t have to.” She disappeared back inside.

“Yeah,” he exhaled smoke, “I did.”

 

~!~

 

She ran into Iruka on the way to the stairs. “Hey, Kazeko-senpai.”

She juggled Konohamaru around to greet him. “Hey, Iruka-kun. I’m just going to put Konohamaru on the couch upstairs. I’ll be right down.”

“Here,” he said, “I’ll take him.”

She let Iruka take the boy from her and sighed. “He’s gotten so big.”

“Kids grow, senpai.”

“Yeah, I suppose they do. Get some sake when you come back down, okay?”

“Sure. Hey, senpai?”

“Hmm?”

He nodded towards the shinobi milling behind them. “Thanks for this. I think we all needed somewhere to be tonight.”

“Yeah. I think you’re right, Iruka-kun.”

 

~!~

 

Kazeko had just pulled her best bottle of Sake out of storage when Kakashi walked through the door.

“Am I late?”

She held the sake up and looked around at the empty place. “Right on time.” She turned to go through the kitchen. “Come join me.”

He snagged two glasses off a shelf in the kitchen when he noticed that she hadn’t. “Looks like you were busy.”

“I hadn’t planned on it, they just showed up. I think everyone needed the company to mourn. But…” she paused and held the door to the garden open for him, “I’m glad they felt safe enough to come here.”

“It’s a good place,” he acknowledged. He followed her as she picked her way to the Torii gate on the right side of her garden. It was raining again, softly.

She paused at the gate. “You’re going to have to trust me for a second.”

She put her hand through the illusory fence, which made the genjutsu waver like a reflection on water. She led him through, into a secluded, restful space. The bamboo, wooden decking, and hot pool was exactly like a hot springs in the mountains. There were chairs to lounge in at the other end of the enclosed space. She took a deep breath and released it into the steamy air. “This is my sanctuary,” she said. She glanced at him to catch his reaction. “My grandfather built it after my siblings died in the war. He said we all needed a space to be with our thoughts.”

Kakashi set the Sake and the glasses down on the deck as she took off her sandals and dipped her toes in the water. “He sounds like a good man.” He sat and pulled off his sandals.

“He was always there- when my siblings died, when my parents were killed. He lived long enough to see me become a chunin.” She popped the seal on the sake and poured them each a glass. “I always come here when I’m missing someone now.”

“You come here a lot,” he observed.

She narrowed her eyes at him and sipped her sake. “You really should reconsider that spying problem you have.” Her face relaxed. “I have a lot of people to miss.”

“So do I,” he admitted.

She held out her glass. “To the people we miss,” she said.

He clicked his glass to hers. “To the Hokage,” he intoned.

“To the Hokage.” She whispered it.

They stayed there, soaking their feet and drinking, until the sake was gone. Neither of them said anything else.


	3. Freefall

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> So when Kazeko sneaks out of the village for some choice ingredients, and Kakashi is on his way back from a mission... yeah it's not sparks that go flying.

Kazeko crouched in the lush green undergrowth, a short forester’s knife in one hand and a small myoga bud in the other. Without real effort, the himitsu settled over her shoulders. She could hear faraway chimes that had no business echoing over the quiet mountain where she harvested the delicate ginger buds, a secret place her grandfather had taught her about.

She always thought that it was ironic that distance made the metallic clash of battle sound like wind chimes echoing. She tried to sense it, but it was too far for her to pinpoint. _Idiot,_ she scolded as she leapt treetops towards the distant clashes, _most people run away from this shit._

It didn’t take her long to find it- or rather, to sense it, since the shinobi involved were all bouncing around the trees almost faster than she could track them. _You’ve gotta be shitting me._

Kakashi was there. _Can I not just escape once in awhile?_

Watching him fight was… impressive. He wasn’t facing a team- he was facing a full squad, and he wasn’t dead yet. His vest was torn to hell and back, but he was holding his own. She couldn’t tell what village they were from, but she considered putting a couple kunai in the back of their heads, just to even the odds a little. Twelve to one was just _cheating._ She wondered if he was familiar with this terrain... If he wasn’t, he might not have noticed that he was being herded towards a sheer cliff. _Oooh. Now he knows. Aaand he’s surrounded. Seven? Can he handle seven… no, eight, there’s one in the trees still…_

She sent a kunai flying as she hit the forest floor in a sprint. It glanced off of the enemy’s kunai and redirected it; the explosive tag attached to it turned a nearby tree into splintered shrapnel. Shards caught her in the right arm and a larger piece stabbed itself into her hip, but she didn’t slow her pace or let her aim falter as she sent kunai into the backs of two of Kakashi’s opponents. Their fallen corpses gave her a straight path to her friend.

She supposed she probably should have given him a warning before she put a shoulder in his ribs and took them both over the cliff’s edge, but really, flexibility in battle was a key skill for a shinobi, and he _had_ the sharingan…

“ _Summoning!”_ she screamed, one hand stretched out below them as they plummeted.

A soft, feathered back caught them just before Kakashi sent an explosive kunai into the weakest point on the cliff face. The giant hawk wheeled out just as the bomb blew boulders and shinobi off of the side of the mountain. Pebbles caught them, which made the bird wobble unhappily, but they were undamaged. Kazeko patted her wing and murmured an apology.

“What the hell was that?!”

“Gee, _someone_ sounds ungrateful. Is that all I get for saving your ass?”

“You tossed me off a cliff!”

“Yes I did, and much more gently than your opponents had planned. Or did you not notice the tree _exploding?”_ She curled her arm in front of her to inspect it. It looked like a pincushion. At least the one in her hip had dislodged itself. Her thigh was slowly turning red, but she didn't have a stick in her ass now. _Hooray_.

Kakashi sighed and held out his hand. “Let me see,” he said. His grip was gentle when she held her arm out to him. His kunai made quick work of her sleeve, and nimble fingers made quick work of the bits of tree lodged in her skin. He smoothed salve over the worst wounds and wrapped her arm. “Done. How's the hip?”

“Fine,” she mumbled.

“You're bleeding on your hawk”

“Hanaka is used to it.”

He scowled. “You shouldn't be so careless. What were you even doing out here?”

She pointed at a patch of trees half way down the mountain. “Picking the best myoga in the Land of Fire. Hanaka, darling, can you land there? It would be nice if I didn't leave empty-handed.”

The great hawk took a minute to find a limb she could land on, but she obliged. Kakashi hopped down first, alert and ready, which made Kazeko roll her eyes at him. “No one’s here but us, Kakashi,” she called. She landed on her bad leg and wobbled; Hanaka caught her with a well-placed wing and rubbed her beak on the top of Kazeko’s head, concerned. “I’ll be alright,” she murmured, “it’s just sore.” She stroked the fine feathers under the bird’s chin. “You should probably go. You won’t be able to land at the shrine.”

The hawk popped out of existence as Kazeko leapt out of the tree. She landed on her good leg this time, so she didn’t fall on her ass. Kakashi glared at her anyway, her rucksack and basket in his hand. “You’re still bleeding,” he said. “You need to let me bandage that.”

“I’m _fine,_ ” she retorted- or tried to, since he’d hooked a foot around her good leg and knocked her flat on her back, so what came out was closer to “I...aghh!”

“You are _not_ fine;” he growled. His hands were already tugging her shirt up to her waist and untying her hakama- which she was suddenly glad she’d chosen to wear- to get at the wound on her hip. “If you were fine you’d have dodged that.”

She hid her embarrassed grimace behind her undamaged arm. “Fuck you, Kakashi.”

“Hey, I am a gentleman. No sex until the third date!” His fingers were cool and gentle. “There’s still wood splinters in this; must be why it keeps bleeding.” He hesitated, “I don’t know if I can get this out with just my fingers.”

“This is definitely _not_ a date. There’s scissors in my med kit- nng- in the rucksack- they’ll do as tweezers in a pinch. Would you get your hands off my ass?!”

“Not until I’m done stitching you up!” He retorted. He waggled the scissors cheerily at her. “Try not to scream.”

“For fuck’s sake, Kakashi. I swear if you make it worse I am going to stab you with those,” she snarled. She noticed her hand was starting to shake, just a little, as Kakashi rooted around in the muscle. Her hip just felt wet, not painful, which was probably a bad sign. “How bad am I, doc?” She joked, trying to make her voice light.

“Your jokes are terrible, but you’ll be fine,” he said calmly. “I’m almost done.”

There was a long pause as he began to stitch the hole- more of a tear, as it turned out, in her leg. “Thanks,” she murmured.

“You saved my life,” he said quietly. “The least I can do is patch up the wounds you got doing it.”

“Ha! So you admit it now?”

He frowned. “I didn’t see the one in the trees. Probably I could have dodged it, but…”

“That cliff is really unstable. And you didn’t have a team. Where is your team?”

“Mm. Solo mission. Done. Can you stand?”

“What’s with the insults? Your bedside manner sucks.”

He hauled her up, quickly enough that she overbalanced and face planted in his vest. “Ow.”

His chuckle vibrated her forehead. “We should get moving. I don’t want to wait around for another squad from Takigakure to chase us off a cliff again. Konoha is two day’s hike from here-”

“There’s somewhere closer,” she interjected, “a couple of hours away. And _don’t_ think I haven’t noticed all the places _you’re_ bleeding from, you hypocrite.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

 

~!~

 

It took three hours of steady hiking before Kazeko stopped Kakashi in front of a granite spur. He had to put her down- two hours in her limp had gotten so bad he’d scooped her up and carried her- and she hopped forward until she could press her hand against the moss-covered rock.

“Kakashi,” she said softly, “before I let you in, you have to swear to tell no one that this place exists. Not even the Hokage. Don’t put it in your mission report, it doesn’t exist.”

“I swear,” he responded automatically. “Is it sacred?”

Seal script spiraled out from her palm. “This is the Nosuri clan shrine. It’s… well, it’s ours, and doesn’t suffer trespassers easily.”

“It’s… a wall.”

“...sometimes.”

He tugged his headband back on his forehead and looked at the wall with his Sharingan. “It’s still a wall.”

“Phht. We know how to fool the Sharingan. Come on, Kakashi, while we’re both still bleeding.”

“You shouldn’t still be….woagh!” Kakashi had a moment of being afraid she’d yanked him face first into mossy rock- it wouldn’t be the first time someone had- before what was in front of him was no longer a granite spur that petered out in thirty paces, but a small, spring-fed complex built with cedar timbers and local stone. “...How?”

“Clan secrets,” she said with a small smile. “Ones I’m not going to show you, Copy-Ninja Kakashi.”

He narrowed his eyes at her and the stone steps she was standing on. “It’s keyed to your chakra.”

 _Technically, it’s keyed to the key implanted in the chakra point of my right palm, but that’s close enough._ “Mm,” she agreed, “which makes you lucky we crossed paths. Come on, there’s medical supplies inside.”

He shrugged. The steps didn’t collapse under him or try to otherwise erase his existence, and if she snickered to herself when he eyed the lintel over the door carefully before stepping over the threshold she at least didn’t say anything _out loud._

It looked like any other three-hundred year old stone and timber building. If any other stone-and-timber building had been built to be hidden by trees and rocky escarpments. He could smell sulfur over the damp granite and aromatic cedar, and the air was warm. “Hot spring?”

“A small one. I’ll let you enjoy it if you sit like a good boy and let me stitch you up.” She gave him an eyebrow waggle that was a fair approximation of the face he’d made at her earlier.

He crossed his arms over his chest and gave her a hard stare. “And you expect me to obey you?”

“Kakashi,” she sighed, exasperated, “my hip hurts, you’re bleeding on my floor, we’re both starving, you can’t take a joke for shit, and I can’t either make dinner or go soak in the spring until I’ve stitched your dumb ass up; so you can either follow me quietly and do what I say or I can activate every booby trap you’re standing in right now and leave you to figure your own self out.”

He groped for a decent comeback. “...You’ll lose your myoga,” he said instead. Still, he followed her - _like a big damn puppy-_ when she threw her hands up and limped through to a small room with a table, stool, chair, and a large chest.

“Sit,” she ordered, directing him towards the stool. He set her bags down by the doorway as she opened the chest and pulled out a tray. “Shirt off. And let me see that left calf you’ve been favoring.”

“Bossy,” he told her back when she stepped out. He could hear her dip a pot into water and smell the fire she lit, but she came back in with a full basin of sulfur-smelling water and some clean rags. She was chewing on something, and her limp was less pronounced. “Willow bark?”

“Yes. Do you need some?”

“No,” he told her, his half-off shirt muffling his words. She made some sympathetic noises when he uncovered his personal mess of gashes and bruising. “That stuff is disgusting.”

“It works, though. Hold still, please.”

A soft splash, and one of the soft rags was cleaning the dirt out of the cut over his shoulder. Excess water trickled down his back and soaked into his waistband. He didn’t complain; he never complained at the person stitching him up. He whined afterwards, at everyone else. For the moment, he sat still and concentrated on not being weirded out by someone touching him from behind- every shinobi’s least favorite thing- or thinking too hard about the person touching him. How much softer her hands were than his. How he could feel her pulse, light and a little fast, when her thumb rested on his skin. He cleared his throat and, because he couldn’t think of anything else to say, began describing each wound she came to. Mostly defensive wounds from kunai in close-quarters- and Kakashi could describe each person’s technique in detail- but there were a couple decent strikes from one particularly good opponent. “I made sure to kill him quickly,” he mentioned, which made her snort.

“Turn,” she said, and he did- and he could see how bloody her fingers were before she scrubbed them off, how red the water had gotten before she took it outside and dumped it. She sat back down in the chair in front of him, her hip all the way off of it and her leg stretched out past him. Kakashi very carefully didn’t think about what would happen if he let his arm drop down and ran his hand along her calf. She had to stretch farther forward to reach the gash on his chest- past his long legs- and that wasn’t helping him at all. She grimaced.

“What?”

“You’re going to have to be on the table when I stitch this. I won’t be able to get a good angle.”

“Okay. I can do that. Now?”

“No. In a minute. Give me your leg first.”

She had the slice on his calf cleaned out quickly. “On the table.”

Stitches were never fun, no matter who was stitching him up, but she was quick about it, at least, and good enough at it that he didn’t feel worried about them tearing.

Standing wasn’t doing her hip any good, though. By the time she was done (and had ruined his nerves when she noticed a gash behind his ear that necessitated running her fingers through his hair more than was strictly necessary) she was shaky and pale.

“Kazeko-san,” he said with all of the sternness he could muster, “thank you for tending to me. Go rest before you fall and pull your stitches out.”

He knew she was feeling bad when she didn’t argue with him, just mumbled something about food and limped into the next room. “I’ll take care of it,” he told her back. He could smell a storeroom further into the building, the hints of pickled and preserved foodstuffs detectable even over the nose-ruining smell of sulfur. They were easy enough to find, and between the storeroom and the cook-fire that Kazeko had lit to boil water, Kakashi had the means to make a passable meal. At least, that was what Kazeko called it when he fed it to her- passable. She looked better afterwards, though, so he considered it a success. He made sure not to notice that she had traded her customary hakama and short jacket for a spa robe, or that her hair was wet and clung to her skin. He did notice that she moved better and the bandages on her arm were gone. She very pointedly didn’t notice that his face was uncovered.

“Enjoy your soak?”

She sipped her tea, more relaxed and self-assured than he had ever seen her. “The water here is very good for wounds. I suggest you do so as well, since you’re still worried about pursuit.”

He stopped with his chopsticks partway to his mouth. “Staying here means I can expect a trap closer to the village.”

“You’ll evade it,” she said calmly. “It won’t be difficult.”

He looked at her, puzzled, and she pointed to her eyes. “Ah. Yes, that would make things easier.”

“Indeed.”

Kakashi turned his attention back to his food for a minute. “How… does it work?”

“The shizukagan?”

“Yeah.”

“Mm. Understand that the Nosuri clan is actually quite old. Clan history says that it is a descendant of both the Byakugan and Sharingan- in practice, the Shizukagan has the Sharingan’s heightened ability to cast genjutsu, and the Byakugan’s heightened ability to sense chakra. Both original dojutsu have stronger visual prowess, but the Shizukagan melds those traits into something new. A Nosuri born with the Shizukagan has the ability to cast a genjutsu so effective that they are completely undetectable by anyone within their range. Essentially, when in himitsu, I cast a genjutsu over anyone within an area of effect. I become undetectable and nearly untouchable.  Unless we are facing a particularly strong Sharingan or Byakugan user, we are only seen when we strike a killing blow. The instant before death breaks the genjutsu.”

“Scary.”

“Yes,” she said, “it was.” She grinned. “You should ask Asuma why they started calling me Ghost.”

“Why did you retire?” He blurted. She winced. _Smooth, Kakashi. Very tactful._

She rubbed the scar on her temple with one finger. “I suffered a head injury on a mission. My shizukagan is not always under my control. And when you can cast a genjutsu that blackens an entire battlefield you are just as likely to kill your friends as your foes. I was considered too much of a risk in the field.”

“I’m… sorry to hear that.”

“Yes,” she sighed. “I’m no longer allowed to kill for my country. Very tragic. If you’ll excuse me, I think I’ll spend some more time in the springs.” She took her bowl out with her.

Kakashi let his face thud into the table with a groan. _Idiot._

He still finished his food before he followed the smell of sulfur back to its source. She was in the hot pool, like she said she’d be, the robe still on. Her head was pillowed on a rock and rain fell softly, drops making little sparkles in her hair. Kakashi was _definitely_ not thinking about how the situation reminded him of that one chapter in Icha-Icha Paradise… nope. Not at all.

He hopped over the stones that lined the pool until he was opposite her. She didn’t look at him until he had sunk waist-deep into the water, and when she did, he made sure he was looking at her face. “I apologize,” he offered. “It was a thoughtless question.”

“Apology accepted,” she said with a smile. Her eyes had gone starry, and he realized he was frowning at that fake smile.

He leaned his head back on the rock he’d settled against. “I’m surprised your ancestors built this incredibly well-hidden fortress and left a portion of it exposed to anyone in the trees.”

“It isn’t.”

“Hmm?”

“This isn’t really rain,” she explained. “This is condensation dripping off a stone roof above us. The roof is spelled with a genjutsu that shows us the trees and sky.”

“You built a genjutsu into the roof just to make it pretty.”

“Someone did. The roof predates me. Like the Uchiha and fire, genjutsu is the Nosuri clan specialty. Specifically, objects permanently spelled or trapped with specific genjutsu. Not everyone- in fact, less than a quarter- in the clan develops the Shizukagan. We are all experts in this. You are sitting in my clan’s masterpiece. Everything within twenty yards of this complex can kill you.”

He flapped his hand at her. “Yes, yes. Your clan is secretly terrifying and you hold the keys to my destruction. I am suitably unnerved, I bow before the glory of the Nosuri, et cetera.”

She snorted. He snuck a glance at her; her eyes had gone back to being brown. _Phew._

A delicate foot stretched out towards his knee. The pool, already small, began to feel smaller. Suddenly he was a footrest and he had no idea how he felt about it. “It should really be more difficult to frighten Kakashi of the Sharingan,” she murmured.

“Women are naturally terrifying,” he retorted. “Especially when they threaten things like stabbings and mind-fucks, and you can’t do anything to them because one of your oldest friends thinks of them as a baby sister and the Hokage likes to pay them personal visits. Ah, and they have a personal bodyguard assigned by the Hokage himself who is absolutely terrifying.”

She lost it and laughed. “Mi-chan isn’t terrifying.”

“Have you _seen_ them when you’re under threat? Or someone has the balls to bad-mouth you in front of them? I’ve heard the stories. They end in blood. Rai came out of his term as a tokujo jonin who _literally slaughtered an entire mercenary force in less than five minutes._ Then he came home and _baked his whole squad cookies._ ”

“Rai is special,” she admitted. “Michi... Michi had it pretty rough when they were in the academy and as a genin. They’ve done much better with me. They’ve become interested in being a med-nin, did you know? I've been trying to find them a teacher.”

“They’ll excel.”

“Hmm,” she agreed. Her other foot joined the first on his knee as she settled further in the water. He put a hand on her ankle, steadying it, and she stroked his wrist with her toes instead of kicking him like he’d half expected her to do.

Maybe she’d assume his flushed face was due to the hot springs. _It is definitely not the hot springs._

“It’s late,” he mumbled. “We should probably rest soon.” _Shut up, Baka-shi._

Her foot pressed harder into his thigh. “It is late,” she agreed, “but you are staying in here for awhile longer so the water can do you some good.”

“Uh…”

“Kakashi, I swear I will chain you to this rock if you keep refusing to take care of yourself when you have the opportunity.”

 _Do you promise?_ “... which one of us tried to refuse stitches this afternoon?” he countered. She narrowed her eyes at him and her foot bounced on his leg.  “Fine, fine. Just keep my head above water when I pass out, hm?”

She didn’t respond- out loud. But when her feet slid off his knee and her wet robe did that thing where _obscuring_ suddenly became synonymous with _revealing_ he wasn’t entirely sure if he wasn’t whining in the back of his throat while she picked her way to his side of the pool.

“All right,” she finally responded when she settled back in the water _right next to him_ and wiggled until she was comfortable, her back against his shoulder so she could just look up at his face out of the corner of her eye. “I suppose I can do that.”

Kakashi spent the remainder of the night repeating the three shinobi prohibitions in his head to stay awake. When Kazeko caught his head nodding she poked him in the ribs and told him to “...get out before he drowned himself.”

He stayed in to watch her climb out first, though. The view woke him up a bit.

 

~!~

 

Kakashi woke up feeling much better than he would have expected, battle wounds and cold stone floors considered. Kazeko was already dressed - as was he, in a spare flak jacket he’d pulled out of one of his scrolls. He’d quirked his eyebrow at her when she had dug her old gear out of a spare room and tucked her customary white scarf-tails into her flak jacket. She’d stuck her tongue out at him and pointed out that he had no room to talk before she covered the lower half of her face and shouldered her pack.

They’d done this all in complete silence. Kazeko knew that the wards and seals around the complex would be, in all likelihoods, effective enough at muffling noise that they could have thrown a raucous party on the front steps before the enemy shinobi tracking them would have noticed, but both of them were jonin, and unnecessary paranoia had kept them alive more than once.

Kazeko didn’t use her Shizukagan until just before they slipped out of a second, hidden exit. _ Take point, _ she told him.  _The first and only rule of Himitsu, Kakashi: stay in my line of sight at all times. Fuck this up and everyone and their grandma will be able to see you._

_ Bossy, _ he told her. Having someone else’s voice in his head was odd.  _I’ll remember._

They hopped from the top of the spur into the higher branches of the trees. The first shinobi from Takigakure’s second squad nosed closer to the spot Kazeko had made Kakashi put her down, and Kazeko eased a kunai out of her pouch.

 _ There are two more Takigakure shinobi in the area, _ she told him.  _There aren’t any more within my range._

_We should take them out._

_I agree_ _,_ she said, her voice in his head a satisfied purr. The kunai in her hand whipped out and landed two feet to the left of the shinobi’s right foot. He startled, took two steps backwards, and fell into a crouch. Kakashi had time to mock her aim before the ground fell out from under her target’s feet and her clan’s last, best stronghold swallowed the unfortunate shinobi whole.

She took out the other two ninja with equally well-hidden traps.  _Let’s go, Kakashi._

_What was that I was saying earlier about ‘ women are terrifying?’_

_ Yeah, yeah. _ Kazeko settled in several lengths behind him, far enough that they couldn’t be targeted at the same time but close enough to keep an eye on his back at all times.

_Quit staring at my ass and mind our flanks._

_There’s no one around for a good two miles in either direction. And it’s right in front of me, I can’t help it._

_Yeah, yeah. It’s not going to do a trick for your amusement._

_Oh, I don’t need it to. Two shinobi a mile ahead. I think we found some more of our friends!_

Kakashi took a moment to consider. _We’ll avoid them._

_Go left. Though really, you could do a dance on their heads and they wouldn’t notice you until you’d gone and their neck hurt._

_What an interesting mental image._

_Mmm. I like this image better._

Kakashi had a sudden understanding of what the women in _Icha Icha_ must feel like on every page. He had a sudden urge to cover his butt with his hands.  _This would be less weird if you would quit snickering._

_Yeah, remember last night when you couldn’t stop staring at my cleavage? Payback._

_...You did that on purpose._

_Kept you out of mischief, didn’t it?_

_… what the hell definition of mischief are you using?_

_How many booby traps did you activate last night? Just the one I stuck right under your nose, hmm?_

_...You are a terrible woman._

_Terrible woman. Excellent kunoichi. Trap ahead, Go right for half a mile._

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WELP THAT WAS A THING.
> 
> I actually wasn't sure where to put this one. It fits best here, I suppose, timeline-wise, but eh... there are some holes since I originally wrote it for later in the story. This fic (like you can guess) just started out as a self-insert that turned into a 'how well can I fit a non-canon character into canon during off-camera time" experiment while I needed a break from writing my novel. Of course it went from there and then I wanted to share this barely-written fanfic because I am actually a giant attention whore.


	4. Tsukiyomi

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kazeko senses someone she never thought she'd see again, promptly dives nose-first into stupidity.

Kazeko was taking a tray of apple pastries to the display case when she felt a new presence brush against her sphere of awareness. The sweet, perfect morsels perished on the kitchen tiles when she recognized the feel of the person’s chakra.  
_Itachi_.

_What is Itachi doing in the village?!_

“No. Nononono…” she chanted, dodging Michi’s attempt to catch her, make her explain,  _stop_ her from running out of her shop and towards _that man. The murderer. Who killed Kaede and Tomi. Who slaughtered Tekka and Sensei._ _  
_

_Think._ _  
_

_I need a plan._

_NO, stay away from him! Shit!_

She ran faster, towards the park and the canal, where she could sense Itachi, Kurenai, and  _Asuma_ , could almost see their chakras flowing with hits and strikes. She needed to be closer. She needed to see!

_SHIZUKAGAN!_

Her steps flowed faster. Undetectable, dodging through market crowds became easier, smoother. She stopped on the bridge over the canal- she could see  _him,_ still two bridges away  _. The murdering son of a bitch._ _  
_

_Shit, I’m too far away!_

Then Kakashi was there.  _Kakashi! Shit shit SHIT._

She had to trust Kakashi to handle himself. _I don’t have any long-range jutsu that can hit these two without risking the others. All I can do is distract Itachi._   _  
_

_Itachi-chan_ _,_ she called, slipping into the forefront of the murderer’s mind, where he kept his thoughts. It was so easy. His sharingan was so strong the setsuzoku, the connection, was effortless.  _Little cousin, what are you doing here? You are not welcome._  He wasn’t invisible. His opponents could still see him, she did not grant him that gift, she just got in his head.

His attention slipped towards her and away, barely a glance away from his opponent- and Kakashi was blocking his counter-attack. She knew he could see her plainly, just as well as his father had. She just wasn’t worth his attention.  _Little shit._

 _So you’re alive, Cousin ,_ he replied. His thoughts were as cool and reserved as his voice had ever been. His lips were moving.

What was he saying? What was Kakashi saying? She couldn’t hear more than the cold voice in her mind and the roar of water-style. She took slow steps off of the bridge, light on her toes as she picked her way down the path.

_I had almost begun to believe the rumors. Do you want to kill me for what I’ve done? Your Shizukagan is not strong enough to defeat me._

Kakashi launched himself at Kurenai, knocking them both out of the way of Itachi’s explosion.

 _I would not take the pleasure of your death away from Sasuke, not even for my lost bloodline,_ she told him with cold satisfaction.  _Though I’ve made him promise to save me a piece; like the hand that slit my nephew’s throat._ She felt the cutting chill of the Sharingan slide into her mind, her vision flashed red and black. She froze. It cost her a precious second, but she shattered the genjutsu. The world inside her head was blue and serene.  _You forget yourself, little cousin! Not even your Sharingan can entrap a Nosuri who has mastered the Shizukagan!_

 _Oh?_  The cold voice rang in her mind,  _But what about someone else?_

Kakashi stood frozen in the canal, his single Sharingan locked with Itachi’s two Mangekyo Sharingan.  _Fuck!_

She broke the connection with Itachi; her mind latched onto Kakashi’s, too fast to be gentle. She brought with her the Shizukagan’s setsuzoku; a razor’s edge of cool blue to slice through the red, clouded, screaming black  _pain. Just pain._ She ripped him out of it, a scream on her own lips- no one heard her when she screamed- and she saw him collapse, even as she caught him in her mind, cradled his broken self, and set him down again.  _No, Kakashi! Stay with me!_   _  
_

_Kazeko, please. Go! Not...safe._  It was just barely a whisper.

Her thoughts whipped back to Itachi like a lash.  _You won’t be taking anyone else from this village!_ She screamed, or the Shizukagan screamed as it rode her. Black leaked from her eyes and her dojutsu locked her opponent in an iron trap, squeezing.

Itachi didn’t flinch. He simply brushed hair the wind had stirred out of his eyes as his companion spoke at his side, too far away for her to hear.  _You broke my Tsukiyomi twice ,_ he chided,  _I am impressed. You always were strong, Aunt Kazeko. It is a shame the Shizukagan will die with you._

A measure of her rage tripped over the nickname.  _You no longer have the right to address me so familiarly, Itachi ,_ she growled.  _And I think you will not be using that ability again today._  Her body moved forward to leap into the canal, to run and strike. Her hands moved to form Tiger.  _They are far enough apart. I can target--_  
Might Guy made a splashy entrance, as usual.  _Damn that_   _idiot._  She stilled.

 _Sadly, no. You are correct. What we came for is not here, so we shall be going. This outing has become too noisy, anyway. _ There was almost a taste of regret within the cold depths of his thoughts.  _But how does this one know so much? _ She caught, almost too quiet to hear, even in her mind, and this time she  _ran._ Guy was closer, and faster.  _He’s collapsed! Get him out of there, idiot!_

She leaped, a kunai knife in her hand without her being aware of how or when.   
_Aunt Kazeko_  . Itachi whispered as she landed in the canal water he had been standing on.  _What if I didn’t..._ He was gone. Guy had handed an unconscious Kakashi off to Kurenai.

At least no one noticed her splash into the canal knees-first; she was still in himitsu.

She hauled herself out of the canal and loped after Kurenai, the Shizukagan’s effect fading away from her in bits and pieces as she ran.

 

~!~

 

Two weeks. Kakashi had slipped into a coma; Guy had returned from his search for Naruto and Jiraiya with a brain-damaged Sasuke, and Kazeko had not slept more than a few hours each night since.

She was exhausted, and even though she could reach Kakashi if she was in his mind- an interesting experience- she worried that if she tried to pull him out of his coma, it was more likely to cause more damage. She wasn’t a med-nin: she was just a telepath with a rare jutsu. Attempting the same with Sasuke would kill him-  _and wasn’t that just great. Why hadn’t she thought to stop him from taking off? Better yet, made sure no one told him it was Itachi. If I ever get my hands on that idiot..._

Frustration drug a growl from her, and Kakashi shifted slightly.

“You look like a kicked puppy.”

“Shut up, Asuma.”

Her senpai laid a gentle hand on her shoulder. “When was the last time you went home?”

 _Two days ago._ “This morning.”

“Kaze-chan… I _will_ drag you out of here if you make me.”

She gave him what he’d dubbed her “death glare;” back when he was a genin and she was still in the academy.

He sighed and pointed to the other bed in the room. “At least get some sleep.”

“Yeah, yeah… I will. Promise.”

Asuma rapped the doorjamb with his knuckles as he turned to leave. “Jiraiya-sama sent word ahead that Lady Tsunade has agreed to come back. They’re going to be okay. Please take care of yourself before you collapse.”

The door closed, and Kazeko face-planted into the sheets on Kakashi’s bed with a groan.

 _It’s not like I have any right to be here anyway._  No one had chased her off, though. She was Sasuke’s emergency contact… and no one seemed to care how much time she spent in Kakashi’s room. They probably thought they were dating. _He’s just my neighbor. I just make him tea. Why did I throw such a damn fit anyway? … ugh. Asuma is right. I do need to sleep. Driving myself crazy._

When Asuma checked on her a few hours later, she had fallen asleep slouched over Kakashi’s bed. He picked her unconscious self up and carried her back to Himitsu Bakery, just as he’d done two days prior.

 

~!~

 

“Kazeko-sensei! Wake up! Wake up! Kazeko-sensei!”

Kazeko groaned. She was back in her own bed. “Mi-chan, what are you fussing about?”

“Kazeko-sensei! Lady Tsunade’s back, and Kakashi-sensei is awake now!”

She sat up, still groggy. “That’s good. I’m glad. Sasuke?”

“Sasuke-chan is awake now, too.” Her overly-cheery chunin apprentice chirped. “But that’s not why I had to wake you up.”

“Why, then?”

“Lady Tsunade is downstairs and wants to speak with you!”

“WHAT?!”

Kazeko was certain afterwards that she had not gotten dressed faster in her life.

 

~!~

 

Lady Tsunade was not what Kazeko had thought she’d be. She only barely remembered Tsunade from when she had still been in the village, but she would have assumed that she would have aged past thirty… the scowl, though, that she remembered.

“Kazeko Nosuri,” the imposing blond intoned, “Jonin of the Hidden Leaf Village, killed during the Uchiha massacre five years ago. Likes to hang out in hospitals.”

Kazeko grimaced. “Kazeko Nosuri, semi-retired Jonin of the Hidden Leaf Village, last non-hostile relative of Sasuke Uchiha, last wielder of the Shizukagan. Friend and neighbor of Kakashi Hatake. Lady Tsunade, Shizune-senpai.” She bowed. “Please, sit. Have tea.”

Michi trotted out of the kitchen with tea and pastries. Tsunade regarded them with open suspicion that Michi didn’t appear to notice. Kazeko did, but that was her job, as proprietor. Tsunade sat at the low table anyway.

“Semi-retired.”

“After I was severely injured on a mission, Lord Third decided it would be best if I retired. I am the last of my clan, and the Shizukagan is precious to the village. I agreed, so long as I was allowed to become part of the village’s defenses.”

“Hrmph. So, why aren’t you dead?”

“Because the rumors of my death were carefully managed by the Third Hokage. There had been at least two attempted kidnappings between my retirement and the massacre in attempts to secure the Shizukagan for other villages. It is also why my apprentice is a chunin, and not a baker, as you noticed.”

“That’s not what I meant. I know all that. Why didn’t Itachi Uchiha kill you when you broke the Tsukiyomi on Kakashi Hatake?”

Kazeko paused for a moment. “Michi, please check on the gardens.”

All three women waited for the door to click behind them.

“Well?”

“I don’t know. You could tell?”

“Kakashi’s brain only had half as much damage to its neural network as Sasuke Uchiha’s. I am familiar with the strengths and weaknesses of the Shizukagan. Even a mediocre wielder is capable of breaking a genjutsu such as that. You have always been strong. Itachi must have seen you as a threat.”

“Not enough of a threat, clearly. He pays a harsh price for the use of his Mangekyo Sharingan. I knew that he would not be able to use the Tsukiyomi more than twice in such a short span of time.”

“So you decided to announce that you were alive, despite the Third Hokage’s many efforts to keep you hidden, to an enemy combatant in order to…?”

“First, I was in Himitsu; only Itachi and Kakashi could have been aware of my presence. Second, Itachi already knows I am alive. He did not kill me in the massacre. He is not an idiot, and he has not contradicted the rumors himself. He has kept my existence a secret. I don’t know why; perhaps some sense of sentimentality. I used to be his babysitter. Third, I am part of Konoha’s defensive net. When I felt him enter my range, I went after him. It is my job.”

“And the idea of revenge against him for murdering the last of your family and your lover didn’t have anything to do with that decision?”

“I’ll tell you what I told him- I would not take the pleasure of his death from Sasuke.”

“And he would kill you if you tried.”

“That would not have stopped me.”

Tsunade glared at Kazeko. “You’re going to have to watch that temper of yours a little better, Kazeko.”

“Yes, Lady Tsunade.”

“And quit evading your escort when you want to leave the village.”

Kazeko grimaced. “Yes, Lady Tsunade.”

Tsunade stood. “Thank you for the tea. It was delicious.”

“You’re welcome, Lady Tsunade.”

~!~

Asuma stopped by Kakashi’s room a day or two later, to see how he was doing and to bring him a few of his books. He caught Kakashi up on what had been happening in the village- Sasuke’s sullenness, Naruto’s training with Jiraiya, how Tsunade was settling in, a silly prank his nephew pulled. Small things to get Kakashi’s mind off of the heavy things that sat on his shoulders.

“Hey, Asuma,” Kakashi interrupted, “You’re close with Kazeko, right?”

“Hmm? Kaze-chan? You could say that. Her sister was one of my teammates. When Fuko died, she asked me to look after her. Why?”

Kakashi scratched his head, looking embarrassed. “Ah, it’s nothing. Just something I saw during the fight.”

Asuma grimaced and turned towards the window. “Ugh, Kaze-chan, so that’s what you’re fussing about,” he muttered. “Kaze’s clever, but after she retired too many people came after…” he gestured at Kakashi’s - _Obito’s-_ left eye. “You know how that goes. Hokage spread the rumor that she died in the massacre. Kept the bounty hunters away. So if she… well, she can’t. Not in the open like that. Orders.”

Kakashi switched topics. “She had close ties to the Uchiha before the massacre.”

“She was going to marry one,” the big man responded. His lip curled a little as if the memory was sour. “But Itachi gutted him and left him to bleed out on his doorstep. And she...”

Kakashi noted the pause.

“Well, Kaze-chan wasn’t the same after that,” Asuma finished with a sigh. “But she’s got her bakery, and her apprentices now. Teaching gets her mind off of…” He stopped abruptly and stood, his smile apologetic. “Time for me to get going. If I don’t show up soon, Choji will eat all my barbecue. See you later, Kakashi.”

“See you, Asuma. Thanks for these!”

Asuma paused at the door to wave. “Hey, Kakashi? Be careful with Kazeko. She’s got a lot of stuff to deal with. She might have kept Itachi off your back, but don’t try to push her too much, yeah?” He let the door click behind him.

Kakashi took another deep inhale. The sheets on his hospital bed still smelled like sugar and lemon balm.  _Her_ scent.

 

~!~

 

Kazeko was sweeping the flour pile out of the kitchen when a gentle cough startled her out of her thoughts. Her broom clattered to the floor and she had a kunai in her hand before her brain caught up with her instincts.  _Much too jumpy._

Kakashi waved at her from a safe distance, back in his familiar flack vest. “Hi.”

“ _Kakashi_. Hi.” She took a deep breath and put the kunai on the counter. “Are you feeling better? Do you need something?”

“Ahh, I’m all right. You?”

“I’m fine.”

He slumped against the doorframe that separated the kitchen from the shopfront, casual and assured. “Well, that’s good. If I had run across the person who  _killed me_ five years ago I would have seriously considered losing my temper, breaking cover, and trying to kill the bastard.”

She grimaced. “Lord Hokage thought I would be safer if I-”

“Picked a dojutsu fight with  _Itachi Uchiha?_ ” He pushed upright; he was used to using his height to intimidate wayward shinobi. “When you readily admit you  _can’t control yours_?”

“ _I can control it just fine,_ ” she growled. Kazeko drawing herself up to her full height wasn’t nearly as intimidating, but she did it anyway. “And you’re one to talk. I  _know_ what I can do against Itachi. What the hell were  _you_ thinking, going up against the  _mangekyo sharingan_ of Itachi Uchiha with only one borrowed sharingan?”

Kakashi clenched his fists. “I was  _doing my job._ ”

“And I wasn’t doing mine?! You nearly got yourself  _killed_! If I hadn’t… If I wasn’t there… damnit, Kakashi!” She crossed her arms over her chest and turned away, “Fine. Fine! I  _didn’t_ have a plan, is that what you wanted to hear? I felt him in the village and I went looking for him, because whatever the  _hell_ he wanted, he wasn’t going to  _get it over the bodies of more of my friends._ If I had stopped for a  _second_ and thought to connect with you first, you wouldn’t have fallen into Tsukiyomi, but…”

“But  _you_ are under orders not to engage with enemy shinobi!”

She snarled, her temper getting the better of her. “You have  _no idea_ what my orders are, Kakashi! I’m still a jonin of the Hidden Leaf!  _You cannot take that from me._ ”

“You were  _reckless_ , Kaze.” Kakashi felt for a moment like he was arguing with a brick wall. “And you’re better than that.”

She stopped short. “Not enough,” she admitted bitterly. “Not nearly enough.”

He tried to put a hand on her shoulder, but she shrugged him off. “Are you done baiting me, Kakashi? Because I have things to do.”

Kakashi tried one more time to make the right words come out of his mouth, ‘ _thank you’_ or even ‘ _please stop risking your life for worthless trash like me,_ ’ but instead he let his hand fall to his side, turned on his heel, and fled.

Kazeko turned back to her sweeping and told herself she wasn’t being sullen.

She found a wood lily on the windowsill in her bedroom that night. Its fiery petals fluttered at her when she picked it up. She searched for a note, but he hadn’t left one. It went in an empty sake bottle and nodded at him when he passed by on the street below.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is actually the first story I wrote for this series! Except back then it wasn't a series, just a "I bet I could do X with Z character I just made up and totally fit it into Episode 82 of Naruto."
> 
> *if you're confused by seeing this pop up again, that's because I'm converting the series posts into chapters like I should have done in the first place*


	5. Training Grounds

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kazeko decides she needs to get off her butt, Kakashi decides he needs to be a creepy stalker.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Woo for finally figuring out how to work around formatting bugs!

Kazeko spent the next week cutting brambles out of the path to an old, long-unvisited training ground. She hadn't been back since the massacre- the memories of her sensei too cutting to bear, she'd spent those years training herself and her apprentices in the grounds past the orchard instead. But if the past month's events taught her anything, it was that she needed to step up her game, in all ways. So she was cutting brambles, getting very sweaty, and obtaining a new legion of scratches on her arms. Truthfully, the effort let her get out enough aggression that she could serve her cranky summer customers without murdering them-- or jumping through Kakashi's window in the middle of the night and punching him in the face. Both of those things would be terrible plans. Incredibly tempting, terrible plans.

The training ground itself was a wild maze of trees, stone columns, and a cliff face courtesy of a long-ago earth-style jutsu that refused to crumble. She spent an afternoon just clearing out all of the old traps; but when she was done her own personal playground waited for her, weeded, tidy, and hellish. She bared her teeth at it before trudging back through the woods to the bakery.

She very pointedly ignored the ninken following her until she got to the orchard gate, when she paused. “Tell Kakashi that if he wants to know what I’m doing, he can come ask me himself,” she called softly. “Spying is still rude, even when it’s a ninken doing the spying.”

A pug in a cute little vest hopped out of the third cherry tree in the row, grumbled sourly at her, and hopped over the gate towards Kakashi’s building. She snorted in equal derision and went to take a shower. The day’s dirt had ground itself into her skin, and she wasn’t quite tired enough to fall into bed still covered in dust.

~!~

It took her two days to make it back to the training ground; between Michi’s training and the general responsibility of running a bakery she hadn’t had a minute to spare. So she sprinted the mile and a half there -as a warmup- and immediately hopped up three of the taller columns to the top of the cliff. The breeze was strong, but the vantage point let her plan her first run. She bit her thumb, drawing blood, and slapped her hand on the slatted bracer strapped to her forearm.

“Summoning!” 

When the hawk burst into existence she pulled him close enough to brush her fingers over his head. “Hayao,” she murmured. “It's time.”

The goshawk clamped his talons into the specially-built bracer and fixed her with a predator’s stare. “Here, Kaze-chan?” He asked, his face so close she had to use one eye to see him. “Did you not swear never to come again?”

She huffed a sigh. “I did,” she admitted. “But I think that is a vow I need to break.”

He bobbed his head in approval. “I would like to fly this course with you again.”

She smiled and turned her arm out, giving the goshawk room to spread his wings. “Let’s go, Hayao,” she commanded, and the when bird launched himself, arcing nearly straight down, she chased him. Chakra-sticky sandals let her run down the cliff face, and when her partner wheeled into the maze, she followed, bouncing off of columns and trees- anything to keep the goshawk in her line of sight.

He led her through a twisting sprint- a goshawk’s short wings and long tail ideal for the sharp, twisting turns necessary in the maze- before he perched in a tree and gave a strident shriek of joy. “Kaze-chan!” He called down, “This time we shall be hidden, yes?”

“Yes,” she huffed- only a little out of breath from the sprint. “We only have enough time for a couple good runs before we’re out of light, so make them count, Hayao!”

“Light-light-light,” he chattered, “Hurry up, Kaze-chan!”

As soon as she’d activated himitsu- as soon as the setsuzoku bonded her mind with the utterly foreign, but comfortingly familiar, thoughts of the ninja bird- Hayao launched himself out of the tree. The object of this game, his favorite, was to try to break that bond- for him to fly fast enough, turn sharply enough, to lose her. Her goal was to maintain it, the idea being that if she could keep up with a racing hawk, she could keep up with a sprinting shinobi.

She used to train like this using shunshin with her Uchiha cousin Shisui- though he usually won those matches, prodigal child that he was. Of course, what he called “training” she usually called “Give that back, you rotten sneak;” because Shisui had always been a prankster. She may have been the youngest of her siblings, but to a select few of the Uchiha brats she was the cool older cousin, bearing cookies and wild mission stories... Until the day when there was no one to tell the stories to.

Maybe some memories were better avoided, on second thought. She redoubled her efforts to keep up with Hayao and let the burn in her muscles chase away all thought.

They were halfway through their second run- Hayao had taken her through a high route, so she was chasing him through branches and leaping off column tops- when the Goshawk shrieked an alarm and wheeled back to her, the impression of sharingan and dogs sharp in his mind. She halted on the top of a column, the setting sun at her back, and dropped Himitsu on them both as Hayao fluttered and dropped onto her outstretched arm, giving voice to his indignation. She could just see the glow of Kakashi’s Sharingan in the treeline.

~!~

Kakashi watched her flicker back to visibility, perched on rough stone above him, her hair come undone with a predator on her arm, and had a sudden, visceral understanding of why her parents had named her Wind Born. Nothing on her moved except for the hawk’s feathers and her flyaway hair- the outfit she’d chosen to train in similar to what he’d worn when he was young, short sleeves and vambraces, but skin tight, with nothing free or loose that could catch the wind and make noise. Even the scarf had minimized into a mask like his own. Kakashi took a moment to realize he was staring before he tilted his head to the side and continued to stare. He saw her shoulders rise and fall in a sigh, and she dropped off of the twenty-foot column like she was taking a step down the stairs, the bird completely stable on her arm.

“What do you want, Kakashi?” she called. The hawk on her arm focused on Pakkun, who was perched on his shoulder. He’d just like to see that bird take a bite at Pakkun.

“You tell me,” he replied. “You issued the invitation.”

She narrowed her eyes at him. “Don’t be an ass, Hatake.”

He sighed and shoved his hands in his pockets. “You’ve not been home as much. I was… concerned.”

She redirected her hawk’s attention with some gentle scratches. “I don’t recall making where I spend my time your business,” she responded, her voice cold.

He considered throwing her words back at her- you don’t know what my business is, Nosuri- but he remembered that he’d followed her to make peace- and it would have been a lie. “You didn’t,” he agreed mildly. “I was concerned anyway. As a… friend.”

Her lips pursed, but she didn't respond. Kakashi stepped forward- and found himself on the receiving end of an angry, hissing goshawk. Pakkun growled, and both humans sent their summons back with gentle murmurs. Kakashi heaved a sigh and gave her his best attempt at an apologetic smile. “I didn't know there was a training ground around here,” he offered, hoping for something neutral.

“It was an Uchiha training grounds.”

He winced. She nodded solemnly, acknowledging his attempt at sympathy. He wondered if Obito had ever trained here, when he was struggling to make chunin… better not to think about that. “It looks challenging.”

“It is.” she shoved her hands in her pockets, mirroring him. “Of course, it's not as challenging as it should be right now. No traps, for one… it's meant to be run with a partner.”

He stepped past her and ran his hand over a column. “Is this for Michi, then?”

“In a few months, maybe. For now… you were right. I’m out of practice.”

He raised an eyebrow at her. “That's not quite what I meant.”

She growled. “Don’t you start.”

“...huh?”

She glared sourly. “I got that from Lord Third all the time. ‘You’re retired, Kaze-chan, just be retired, run your bakery, start a family, you don’t need to train anymore, blah blah blah.’ ” She crossed her arms over her chest, “I could deal with it when everything was calm, but Sasuke… he’s so much worse now, and if Itachi can just waltz into the village whenever he pleases, I can’t… I can’t just let it slide anymore. I sat on my ass for five years because they told me I wasn’t …” She took a deep breath. “I’m not willing to accept that anymore.”

He crossed his arms, mirroring her. “Good. You shouldn’t.”

She blinked at him, clearly expecting some kind of opposition. Kakashi didn’t know what sort of bureaucratic bullshit prompted that rant- or their earlier argument, if he was guessing correctly- but he wasn’t one to tell a fully-fledged jonin an old injury should keep them grounded permanently. “So happens I might need a training partner,” he drawled. “My Sharingan still needs some work, and since you seem to know a few things about fighting Uchihas…”

“Yeah?” she recovered with a sly grin. “So does Guy. You sure you don’t want to ask him instead?”

He got the cold sweats just thinking about it. “Pretty sure.”

She yawned, and trudged past him. “All right, fine. Deal... tomorrow, though. I’m tired.”

He followed, a little pleased with himself for navigating a tense social interaction without bloodshed, or worse, running away. “What’s that? Shinobi don’t have bedtimes.”

She glanced back at him. “No, but bakers do. If they want to make sure they don’t poison the customers, at least.”

Then, because he apparently needed to prove that he’d been hanging out with Guy too long, he grinned and said, “I’ll race you back.”

~!~

Kazeko taught Kakashi fairly quickly that racing her had very little in common with racing their green-clan compatriot. She had no compunction about fighting dirty, for one, so their race quickly devolved into a game of trap avoidance and quick tussles. Still, for all that, they were nearly evenly matched. And when Kakashi took the orchard gate in a flying leap, she tackled him in mid-air.

They hit the ground in a rolling tumble that ended in the middle of her garden, with Kazeko’s forearm braced against Kakashi’s throat, and Kakashi with a handful of her thick hair, both of them out of breath and laughing like loons.

“I told you they were flirting,” Michi’s voice was pitched loudly enough to carry from the patio. Both of them looked up- Kazeko flicked Kakashi’s nose before she let him up- and saw her apprentice having tea on the patio, playing host to Asuma and Iruka. Michi held an expectant palm out to Iruka. “Cough it up, Iruka-senpai.”

They scrambled apart, both beet red. “Ha-ha, good training, yeah?”

“Heh-eh… yeah, that was really, uh, challenging…”

Their audience lost it and devolved into snickers.

Kazeko narrowed her eyes at her chunin, her hands on her hips.

“So,” Kakashi mused, “extra training tomorrow?”

“Oh yeah. Definitely extra training tomorrow,” she replied.


	6. In Memoriam

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Memories.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is a part in the canon timeline that the anime is very bad at communicating- too much filler screws up the timeline. Assume that Sasuke is barely out of the hospital and being a bitter little shit, but the Sound Ninja have not shown up yet.
> 
> (OK so maybe I'm not the SUPER best at sticking to the Canon timeline. It's somewhere between real canon and anime-canon.)

Kazeko was on her second glass of sake when Kakashi poked his head through the illusion that was the doorway to her personal piece of paradise.

“Company?” he offered, not daring to open his eye or take an actual step inside the genjutsu’d space without being certain of his welcome. He’d learned the hard way, several weeks after her initial invitation, that startling Kazeko when she was relaxing was a Bad Idea. It was the one time she actually HAD thrown a kunai at his head, generous offer of ‘come soak whenever’ notwithstanding. There had been about a week, after their fight, when Kakashi hadn’t been sure of his welcome, but between the wood lily in her window and their mostly friendly training bouts he felt reasonably certain of his welcome.

“Sure,” she smiled languidly, the heat and the sake already gone to her head. “Save me from drinking this all by myself.”

“Well, if it’s to help a friend…” he drawled, which made her laugh. “But no peeking,” he admonished, although he made no attempt at modesty when he shed his clothes and Kazeko wasn’t saintly enough to actually obey him. She did close her eyes when he stepped in, which gave him the opportunity to ruffle her hair and make her squawk in indignance.

He had her sake glass in his hand when he sat. “Ahh, this is exactly what I needed after today.”

“Long day?”

He leaned his head back and stared imploringly at the steam curling into the night. “Long day, long night,” he retorted, his voice too low to be a whine but complaining all the same, “the kids decided to work on their teamwork. They needed to see what was under my mask, apparently.”

She snickered. “And what did they find?”

“Another mask, of course.”

This prompted a laugh that only someone who had spent the past few years dealing with students had, one of the helplessly sardonic and mildly sadistic laughs that teachers only share with other teachers. Kakashi grinned, pleased with himself as Kazeko’s laugh died down into a chuckle. “You’re going to drive them nuts.”

“Getting those three to work together when they’re not facing a life-or-death situation is like pulling teeth. This is harmless, and they need the practice.”

She nodded and poured herself a new glass of sake. “How’s Sasuke doing with that seal?”

Kakashi glared at the nearly new moon. “He’s frustrated.”

She raised an eyebrow. “This is Sasuke.”

“He keeps trying to pick fights with Naruto. Which, they’ve always been at each other’s throat, but… I don’t know. It makes me uneasy. I need to spend more time with them both- and Sakura, but Naruto’s been out with Master Jiraiya, and I’ve been on missions.  I need time, but the village…”

She grimaced. “Missions never end.”

“Mm.” Kakashi rubbed at his covered eye.

“Does your eye bother you?”

“It's fine,” he told her. It ached, like it always did after he had to use it.

She snorted and stood, one hand keeping her towel in respectable places. “Stay here, I'll be right back.” A robe went over the towel, and she scrubbed hurriedly at the water dripping off her legs before scampering away. Kakashi heard the door to the kitchen slam. He stayed and poured himself more sake.

At least after spending a few hard afternoons training with the tiny taskmaster he didn't immediately blush from head to toe at the sight of her bare legs. A man had to be respectable, after all.

A small dropper bottle waved itself in front of his face. “Here,” she said. “Eye drops. Use them, they’ll help with the ache.”

He took the bottle with a sigh. Being a jonin, he could recognize futility when faced with it. “Thanks.”

“You’re welcome,” she acknowledged. The sincerity was a little ruined when she glared at him until he gave in and shoved his hitai-ate up onto his forehead. Watching himself drip eye drops into the sharingan was going to be one of his least favorite memories, he was sure.

It did soothe the ache in the Sharingan eye, though. He regarded the small bottle in his hand with interest. “Obito used to use these,” he admitted without thinking. He probably deserved the familiar way that thought stabbed him in the chest.

Kazeko was watching him thoughtfully. Kakashi waited for the inevitable, ‘he was a hero,’ or worse, ‘You must miss him,’ but she said neither. “I remember him,” she said instead. “Obito. He always stopped to help Grandfather carry groceries and stuff.”

He blinked at her. “He always did that. He was late all the time because he’d stop to help some old lady. It used to drive me nuts.”

“Fuko liked him. I used to tease her about it- I was only eleven at the time. I don’t… I don’t think she ever told him.”

“I remember her, she was…” He was struck with a sudden, irrational sense of guilt for not remembering anything concrete about Kazeko’s older sister, the chunin that had graduated with their friends and, from what he’d heard, died in Asuma’s arms. “She was friends with Asuma.”

“Yes.” She smiled at the dregs of her drink. “I suppose I’ve had enough of this, it’s making me sentimental. Ugh, and it’s _late_.”

“You should head to bed, baker-chan.”

“Yeah, yeah…” She lingered. “Will you be around tomorrow?”

“I have another mission.”

She nodded. “Should I try talking to Sasuke?”

“If you think it would help, be my guest.”

She nodded absentmindedly before leaving him alone in her garden, nursing the last of his sake.

~!~

Kazeko took time the next day to pay her respects to the dead.

Konoha had never put up a memorial to its lost Uchiha clan. It was just one more thing that made Kazeko feel bitter, that the only place she could go to remember the friends that she had lost was the sad little dock Fugaku had taught his sons their first fire jutsu at. Throwing pebbles at still water wasn’t much of a way to remember someone, after all.

It had taken her weeks to recover, but she had walked through the compound and seen the uncleaned bloodstains. She knew where her Sensei and his wife had fallen, knew they’d been struck from behind, knew they hadn’t fallen far.

She knew Tekka had bled out slowly, in pain.

She knew Tomi’s two young sons had died quickly, in relative mercy.

She knew the spot where ANBU had found Sasuke, could trace the elder’s steps as they had surveyed the carnage.

She knew everything about what had happened that night except _why._

"What do I do now, Sensei?"

 _Aunt Kazeko… what if I didn’t…_ a relatively obvious misdirection. What better way to make someone hesitate than by making them question their reasons behind attacking? She was surprised Itachi would have bothered. He had always been smarter than that.

She left off tossing pebbles to curl a hand over her stomach. _Five years. It’s been five years, and all I’ve done is train chunin and bake. I’ve failed you._

But Sasuke and the bakery had been all she’d had _left._ Her retirement had been permanent, that much was made clear for her. She _had_ tried, the day after she’d been able to stand. She’d found all the places the people she had loved died, and then she’d walked into the Hokage’s office in her jonin uniform and three different ANBU members had held her down while the Hokage forbade her from leaving the village and getting her revenge. It had taken her a week to recover from the chakra drain the seals had given her.

_Your purpose has been made clear to you, Kazeko Nosuri. We will not tolerate any more of these little rebellions of yours._

Rai had been replaced by an ANBU stooge within a day. She had spent more time in the following year recovering from Chakra drain than she had spent on her feet.

After that, she had obeyed the Hokages’ wishes like a mutt too afraid of a boot to run.

_I can’t do this anymore._


	7. Strength

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Things get complicated.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "But is she a good person?"
> 
> ... well...

“Focus, Michi! Summoning will do you no good if you can’t  _ focus!” _ Kazeko launched a roundhouse at Michi’s face. They dodged easily enough, but the movement interrupted their hand signs. They were battling back and forth through the orchard behind the bakery; Kazeko had set Michi the task of summoning in the middle of a fight. This was more difficult for Michi, since their usual summon, like their master’s, was a hawk- and hawks didn’t have much power on the ground. In battle, choosing your field wasn’t always an option. 

Michi was having trouble with that. 

“Don’t wait for the right time,” Kazeko lectured through a clash of kunai, “make time!” 

Michi gritted their teeth. “Yes, sensei!”

They kept at it. Eventually, with a puff of smoke, a small sparrowhawk popped into the air above Michi’s outstretched hand. Kazeko immediately quit attacking. “Well done, but do it faster tomorrow.” She bowed to the little hawk. “Hello, Asuyo.”

“Miss Kaze-chan. Are you training apprentice Kaze?”

“That’s right. I expect them to succeed more quickly tomorrow, so we’ll continue sparring after, if you are amenable.”

The little bird hopped up to Michi’s shoulder and rubbed its beak against their hair. “Apprentice Kaze needs training. I will help.”

Michi grinned wryly and scritched under Asuyo’s chin. “Thanks, Asuyo.”

“Come, apprentice Kaze. I will show you a trick!”

“Oh- all right…”

Kazeko laughed. “Go on, you two. I need to head back to the bakery.”

The sparrowhawk launched himself further into the trees with a piercing “kek-kek-kek! Follow me, apprentice Kaze!” Michi ran after, bouncing off of tree trunks. Kazeko shook her head and headed back towards the garden. She snagged the towel she’d left hanging on the gate and wiped her sweaty face.

“Hey.”

“I’ll tie those bells around your  _ neck _ if you don’t stop sneaking up on me, Kakashi,” she growled. 

He cocked his head at her. “Aren’t you a sensory-type ninja? You should know where everyone is, always.”

She tossed her towel at his face. “You live next door. If I tracked where you were at all times, I’d go nuts. I made a conscious decision not to track you a long time ago.”

“You’d give up that much advantage? Hmm.”

She narrowed her eyes at him. Her fingers brushed a seal she had tattooed on her left wrist, and almost before he could see it, she’d stuck a kunai in the corner of the garden wall. 

Leaves rustled. “NOT COOL, Kaze!”

“If you’re going to live up to that mask you need to be less obvious, Bear!” She shouted back. She kept her eyes on Kakashi the entire time. “I don’t give up any advantage.”

“Hmm,” he mused. “ANBU is keeping an eye on you?”

“Not very well,” she groused. “Probably because of Sasuke.”

He winced. “It’s not your fault, Kakashi,” she told him. 

“It’s not yours, either,” he retorted.

_ You don’t know what I’ve done. _

“You weren’t even in the village,” he continued. “I looked for you, after.”

She grimaced. “I was at the shrine. I think… it’s possible it was planned for when I’d be out of the village.” 

“Do you think Orochimaru has been keeping an eye on you?”

She pointed towards a tree in the distance. “They do.” Her hand tracked the ANBU member’s movements for a long second, just to make them squirm. “But no. I think Sasuke made sure of it himself.”  _ Because I told him to. _

 

_ ~!~ _

 

_ Five Days Prior _

 

Kazeko looked at the scrawny boy across from her and scowled. “You know better than to lie to me, Sasuke.”

He glared at her. “ _ I need more power! _ I don’t care where I have to get it from!”

“You  _ should. _ Use your head! You’re the best genin in your year. You are  _ not _ an idiot. That is a  _ curse _ on your shoulder. Your thirst for revenge is  _ painfully obvious. _ Do you think Orochimaru couldn’t smell it on you when you met? He knows you’ll try to find out how to control the mark. He knows you’ll eventually have to come to him to learn. He will use you until there is nothing left of you to use. Do you really think you’ll have enough power or autonomy at that point to even dream of going after your brother?”

Sasuke sneered and avoided her gaze. “I’ll handle it.”

She stepped past him to press her finger to a tiny mark carved in the door frame. A thread of chakra whispered around the building; Sasuke recognized her favorite silencing jutsu, a specialty of her clan. His Aunt was paranoid. If he walked into the building with his Sharingan active, bright spots of chakra-bearing seals were everywhere, most of them traps. When she turned back to him, her black eyes were terrifying.

“You’d  _ better _ handle it,” she snarled. “If I have to go rogue to pull you out of there before he kills you, I will beat you bloody.”

His eyes went wide. “What?”

She sighed. Blue seeped back into her irises. “Little brother, it is painfully obvious that this village is holding you back. You are an Uchiha. If we keep you down, eventually the need for vengeance, that hate your brother taught you to covet so much, will turn against the people who are keeping you here. I don’t want that to happen to you.”  _ I don’t want you to end up like me. _

He grabbed at her arm. “Come with me. Help me. You want revenge as much as I do; I know it. Come with me, Auntie.”

She pulled him into a hug. “No, Sasuke. That is not something I can do. I have too many ties here. Someone needs to stay here and try to keep the village off your back while you avenge our families.” His arms tightened around her.  _ He was so scared. _ “Come with me. I have something I need to give you, and you will need your Sharingan for it.”

He frowned at her as his eyes turned red. “What?”

She led him to the kitchen and pushed her toe into the corner of a floorboard. A trapdoor clicked and dropped down. He followed her into a small cellar, stuffed completely with dusty scrolls and weapons. The Nosuri clan’s entire history was in that room. “I am going to teach you how to summon,” she said, a scroll already in her hand. “As your Father did me.”

He mastered it immediately; he was an Uchiha with the Sharingan, after all. He stood in the candlelit room, stroking the back of a large, nearly black hawk while she told him one last thing.

“ _ Tell no one _ that you know how to summon hawks, little brother. Let them be your lifeline to me. Ask them, and they will help you. Be loyal to them, and they will be loyal to you. Respect them; they are your best partners. A human will forgive betrayal. A hawk will not. You are an Uchiha, you understand this.”

He just looked at her with those red, double-tomoe eyes. “Yes,” he said.

She bowed to the hawk. “I think we are done here, Sora-san.” The hawk bobbed his head and disappeared. “We need to head back up before we attract attention. Let’s go back to our tea.”

The smile he gave her was fierce.

Before he left to return to his lonely house, she gave him stern instructions that she was going to be out of the village, and he wasn’t to do anything foolish while she was gone.

 

~!~   
  


“Once Sasuke decided that he wasn’t going to become stronger in the village, it was only a matter of time;” Kakashi was saying.

“Yes,” she agreed. “I think you’re right. Nothing you or I could say would have convinced him otherwise. I just wish it hadn’t been like it was. Those Sound ninja… they could have killed the kids. They got lucky.” 

Kakashi put his hand on her shoulder. “They’ll be all right,” he said reassuringly. “And we’ll get him back.”

“Mm. I hope you’re right, Kakashi. I hope you’re right.”

 

~!~

 

Kazeko slid the plate with the apple pastry and a teacup full of her best tea closer to the sniffle-ridden, pink-haired genin’s elbow and wondered when her bakery became the place for shinobi to weep at. 

“Sasuke left, and now Naruto and everyone is hurt, and I couldn’t do anything, and I’m just  _ worthless _ and I  _ hate _ it…”

_ Because she didn’t feel guilty enough _ . “Sakura-chan…”

The girl sniffled again and wiped her nose on the back of her hand. Kazeko glanced up at Michi, who was leaning against the kitchen entryway and watching the spectacle with pursed lips. “Sakura,” she said again, “nothing that happened was your fault.”

“Even if it was,” Michi added, their voice colder and more stern than Kazeko had heard in a long time, “are you just going to feel sorry for yourself, or are you going to work past it and improve so you don’t let your teammates down again?”

Sakura’s face went pale and slack. “What?”

Michi stared her down. “I said, are you going to sit there and whine about it, or are you going to work harder so you don’t have to go through this ever again?”

“Michi…” Kazeko started, but her apprentice gave her a sharp look. She quirked an eyebrow at them and they softened. 

Sakura hiccuped and sniffled, but she returned Michi’s glare with interest. “I’m going to get  _ better,” _ she declared. 

“How?” Michi demanded. 

Sakura thought back to what Iruka-sensei had said during the chunin exams. She squared her shoulders, wiped her nose on the back of her hand, and look Michi straight in the eye.

“I’ll get  _ stronger, _ ” she said.

Michi crossed their arms and gave Sakura an assessing look. “Good,” they said.

Sakura nodded and turned her attention to the food in front of her.


	8. Dull Blades

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nobody really knows what Kazeko's doing. Especially not Kazeko.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Or me, really! Ah-heh...heh...nng.

It took two weeks before the kestrel delivered the first note- just a tiny scrap of paper with a musical note sketched on it. It burnt to ash in less than a second, but it calmed some of her worries. 

Kazeko kept training with Kakashi, honing her reflexes and speed; she worked back to keeping himitsu  through a shunshin. It was easier to keep up with Kakashi than Shisui- as formidable as the copy ninja was, he’d never be  _ Shisui the Teleporter- _ and he did her the dubious favor of peppering the remote training grounds with traps to evade. 

Her lost Uchiha cousin was on her mind more and more often as they trained; Kakashi had a mischievous streak that reminded her of the kid’s bratty pranks. When he asked her what she knew about the second state of Sharingan, Shisui was how she could give him an answer worth receiving. Out of all his clan, he’d gone to the one cousin who would never bear the Sharingan for advice on how to master his new ability- and how to deal with the loss that had caused it.

She’d loved the Uchihas, but she’d never been blind to how terrible they were at managing their emotions.  _ Not that I’m any better. _

“Again!”

She threw two shuriken at Kakashi’s face- and snorted when only half of one warped out of existence. He blocked, but the amputated handle smacked him in the shin. “Let’s take a break, Kakashi.”

“A little longer,” he protested, “I haven’t gotten this down yet.”

She gave him a  _ look. _ “We’ve been doing this all afternoon. You’ve abused your eye enough today. We’re taking a break before you  _ fall over _ .”

“But…”

“Let me rephrase. We’re taking a break, or I will let Hayao have you.”

He winced. Her hawk summon  _ really _ didn’t like him. “Fine… uh, where are you going?”

Her foot hit the trail back to the bakery. “Sorry, ‘Kashi,” she said, “but I think I’m about to have a visitor, and it would be rude to make her wait.” A shunshin, and she was gone.

Kakashi considered using some of the traps to train his sharingan, but she was right- and her feathered psychopath was staring at him from one of the trees, he could feel it. He decided to call it a day and beat a quick retreat. Overnight would be plenty of time to build up more chakra.

~!~

Kazeko looked as fresh as a daisy when Lady Tsunade strode through the door. “Good afternoon, Hokage-sama. Would you like some tea?”

Tsunade gave her a once-over and snorted. “Drop the henge,” she rumbled, “and I’ll think about tea.”

Instantly, Kazeko wore her training gear. Dirt, sweat, and blood covered her skin in a kaleidoscope of splotches. She gave her Hokage an unapologetic smile. “Some tea, Lady Tsunade?”

Tsunade snorted and sat at one of the corner tables. Kazeko busied herself scrubbing her arms while Michi readied the tea-things, then- still covered in grime from the elbows up- carried the tea out to Tsunade herself.

“Your tea, Hokage-sama.” There. As demure as you please.

Tsunade laughed. “Getting some training in, I see.”

“It seemed wise.”

“I am glad our last line of defense has been keeping sharp, even if you are…  _ semi- _ retired.” 

Kazeko smiled. “I get restless if I don’t train enough,” she offered.

“Hmph,” Tsunade sipped her tea. “So. Where is your cousin?”

“I don’t know, Hokage-sama. Wherever Orochimaru is, I suspect. Does the Toad Sage have a lead?”

Tsunade didn’t say anything for several minutes. “Naruto calls him Pervy Sage,” she admitted.

Kazeko sat, blinking. “Well, that’s… apt.”

“He does deserve it,” she agreed. “But I have not heard of anything new in regards to your cousin.”

Kazeko bowed her head. “Thank you for keeping me updated. I’ve been worried about him.”

“Hmm.” Dishes clinked from the kitchen. “How has your apprentice been faring?”

“Michi has been advancing quickly. They have almost perfected their summoning.” She paused. “They have mentioned an interest in learning medical ninjutsu, Hokage-sama.”

“There is always a need for skilled med-nin,” Tsunade mused. “Though they are older than the usual apprentice. Perhaps I shall see if Shizune is willing to train them.”

“Thank you, Hokage-Sama. I am sure they will do well.”

“It will take away from their time with you,” she warned.

“I am running out of things to teach them,” Kazeko admitted. “If they can learn anew from someone else, that is worth it to me. I have other employees. The bakery will not suffer.”

“Your bodyguard would be too busy to guard you,” Tsunade argued.

“I’m sure my ANBU detail is sufficient to ensure my safety,” Kazeko said serenely. “They are never far. It is a little intrusive, to be honest. But I am ever grateful that my village is so invested in my safety.”

Tsunade’s nostrils flared. “Indeed. The safety of all our citizens is paramount.”

“Of course, Lady Tsunade.”

Tsunade set down her cup. “Thank you for the tea.”

“It was our pleasure, Lady Tsunade.”

“I do enjoy it here,” the Hokage offered as she stood. “It is always relaxing.”

“We strive to keep it that way,” Kazeko said with a demure smile. “We have been considering the addition of music. Soothing sounds would improve the atmosphere.”

“Oh?”

“Yes.” A bead of sweat rolled down the length of Kazeko’s spine. “I have heard that the sounds of certain musical instruments improves one’s health and well-being.”

“I see,” Tsunade said slowly. “Perhaps I will research these effects when I have the time.”

“I’m sure it would be an interesting avenue of research.”

Tsunade nodded and strode out of the shop.

Michi was waiting by the sink when Kazeko carried the tea-tray back into the kitchen. Their arms were crossed over their chest, fingers dug into their elbows. All of the bubbly effervescence that followed them around was bottled up, turned into nervous tension. 

“Mi-chan?”

They swallowed. “Do you really not have anything else to teach me, Sensei?”

She sighed and set the tea-things next to the sink. “That will be the case soon enough. Don’t you want to learn further, Michi?”

“Yes! But…” Their chin curled into their chest.

“But?”

“I don’t want to leave you here,” they whispered.

“Oh, Mi-chan…” Kazeko pulled her apprentice into her shoulder. “You are my precious student. I will not make you leave just because you have a new teacher.”

Michi broke out of the hug. “I’m your  _ bodyguard, _ ” they blurted. “I’ll be replaced!”

“That’s possible.”

Michi’s face contorted. “You don’t understand, Sensei!”

“Explain it to me, then.”

“They’ll… they’ll replace me with another ANBU operative. I don’t…” They glared at the floor. “You don’t hear what they say about you, Sensei.”

Kazeko blinked, a wry grin beginning to stretch her lips. “Ah-heh...hehehee. Ahaha, hahahaha….”

Michi stared, outraged. “ _ Sensei!  _ Take this  _ seriously! _ I’m worried about you!”

Kazeko endeavoured to stifle her giggles. “Sorry, Mi-chan,” she apologized as she wiped her eyes, “I wasn’t expecting that. Don’t let the gossips get to you. I’ll be fine.”

They squirmed. “You’ve been different lately,” they countered, “and ANBU has been following you around more.”

“There are some things I could not do under the Sandaime Hokage,” she acknowledged. “Restrictions I’m not willing to follow anymore. It makes ANBU nervous when Shinobi break the rules. The reasons why don’t matter to them.” She smiled, her voice reassuring. “Lady Tsunade will take care of it soon enough. Why don’t you head to bed, Mi-chan? I’ll close up.”

~!~

The night smelled like Autumn when Kazeko stepped outside, her eyes a perfect reflection of the stars above her. Her edges blurred, and she was gone. 

Leaves rustled in a cherry tree halfway down one of the orchard rows.

_ Thunk. _

“Hello, Mouse.” The Nosuri’s voice purred. Her arm was pressed against the ANBU’s throat, a friendly sort of threat. “Been gossiping in the locker room again?”

The ANBU snarled behind her mask. “What the fuck do you think you’re doing, Nosuri? Get  _ off _ me or I’ll-”

“You won’t do  _ shit, _ you little brat,” Kazeko sneered. “You aren’t fucking  _ good enough. _ ”

“You uppity bitch-”

Kazeko’s laugh was a high, vicious snarl. She leaned a little harder on her arm. “Let’s be clear. Harass my apprentice again, Mouse, and I’ll give you a free lesson on what  _ real  _ loyalty looks like. Since you seem to need one;” Her blue-black eyes glittered as she gave the ANBU mask a friendly pat. “Remind your masters that Konoha needs every weapon available to it right now. I’m done being a dull blade.”

Kazeko vanished, and Mouse coughed as air rushed back into her lungs. “Fucking  _ psycho, _ ” she snarled- but quietly, under her breath.

The jonin just walked back through the garden, snickering to herself.


	9. Hidden

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Just a bunch of folks, hangin' around. Tellin' tales.

Tsunade stared morosely at the mountain of paperwork filling the corners of her office and prayed quietly for a bottle of Sake. The universe and Shizune refused to cooperate. She heaved a heavy, context-laden sigh, but her assistant merely patted Tonton on the head and pretended not to hear. Tsunade pulled Jiraiya’s latest translated report off of the top of the nearest pile and re-read it.

_                  Hime,  _

_           No snakes in Earth Country. Further direction requested. _

That was all. Jiraiya’s correspondence was, as always, much more brief than the man himself. That he’d included an address was just to needle her, she knew. Still, the Toad Sage needed somewhere else to look for their long-lost teammate and his new protege. She pursed her lips and decided to gamble.

“Shizune.”

“Yes, Tsunade-sama?”

“Who do we have investigating the Sound Village?”

“An ANBU squad checked in three days ago with nothing to report,” Shizune responded. “They can’t find it.”

“Tch.” She scrawled a quick message on a piece of scrap. “Have the cipher team deliver this to Jiraiya.”

“Yes, Tsunade-sama.”

She thought a little more. “Cat!”

The ANBU materialized in front of her desk. “Yes, Hokage-sama?”

“Tell me about the ANBU detail assigned to Himitsu Bakery.”

The woman tilted her head in thought; the mask made her look like a mischievous cat. “Bear is assigned to casual observation of the current occupants,” she said after a minute. “Despite the connection to Uchiha Sasuke, the observational post is considered low-priority.”

Tsunade tapped her teacup and turned her gaze to her Sensei’s portrait.  _ What were you thinking, old man?  _  “Thank you. Dismissed.”

 

Two weeks later

When Asuma had suggested a leisure day in the garden, Kazeko hadn’t considered how  _ crowded _ her garden could get. Sakura was in the grass, surrounded by textbooks, Asuma was playing- and losing- a game of shogi with Shikamaru, and Choji had happily volunteered to be a guinea pig for several new recipes she had been meaning to try. Ino was reading over Sakura’s shoulder- or filing her nails, Kazeko wasn’t quite sure. Naruto, just out of the hospital and still covered in bandages, was morosely trying to draw patterns on a target with the stick-marks from the kunai he was throwing at it. He’d managed half of Konoha’s leaf, but the spiral was proving difficult. The bandages were throwing off his aim.  Michi was being bombarded by the hyperactivity of both her’s and their own summon- Hayao and Asuyo in one place at the same time meant a lot of screeching happening in the background, but there seemed to at least be a  _ point _ to whatever they were doing… whatever that happened to be. Kakashi was comfortably ensconced on a deck chair pretending to watch the shogi game, but really just reading his porn. 

None of them were as happy as a bright, calm afternoon in a beautiful garden deserved.

Kazeko was putting the finishing touches on the latest tray of pastries- tiny squares of puffed pastry with candied myoga ginger shoots and swirls of icing- and listening to the click of shogi tiles on the patio. 

“Heyyy, Asuma,” Kakashi’s drawl carried surprisingly well over the racket of hawk screeches and kunai thumps.

“Hmm?” He grimaced as Shikamaru conquered another of his pieces.

“Say, do you remember the Ghost Ninja?”

Asuma choked on his cigarette and cast a guilty glance at the window into the kitchen.

Kazeko used a hip to push the door open, her hands full of pastry trays. She smiled indulgently as Choji pounced- but as she’d admonished him to do, he set one of them down for the rest of the genin before he tucked into the other. “That’s an old name,” she observed.

Asuma coughed. “Not that old,” he retorted. “Why?”

Kakashi shrugged. “Someone reminded me of her recently. I’ve always wondered how she got the nickname; heard you might know the story...”

“The Ghost Ninja?” Sakura echoed. 

Kazeko gave Kakashi a narrow look. “She was a jonin of the Leaf when you weren’t even old enough for the academy,” she explained. “She died with the Uchihas. Isn’t it a little early for ghost stories, Kakashi?”

Kakashi flapped a hand at the two of them. “I’m curious.”

Asuma paused for a long moment, eyeing the fresh bruise on Kazeko’s side and her scraped knuckles. “Shinobi started calling her ‘The Ghost Ninja’ while she was a chunin,” he said carefully.

The genin slowly began to close in, sensing entertainment. 

Kakashi flapped his book at Asuma. “Yeah, but  _ why?” _

Asuma looked back at Kazeko, who shrugged and flashed a small smile. “It started with an escort mission through Earth Country,” he began. “One of my first as a Jonin commander. We were pinned down near one of those damn cliffs they have everywhere, with an uncooperative client and a squad from Stone on our tails, when a second squad came over a ridge and landed  _ right _ on our damn heads.”

There was a collective wince as Asuma paused for effect. Kazeko rubbed at a scar on her left arm, remembering.

“One of us was securing the client- sometimes that’s easier when you knock them unconscious- and the other three were responding to the threat. Ghost was one of the three- but her taijutsu wasn’t the strongest back in those days…”

Kazeko snorted.

“... and two shinobi managed to muscle her over the cliff. That scream still gives me nightmares,” he added with a sly glare at his host. “I thought she’d died.”

All of the genin but Shikamaru leaned closer.

“We kept fighting- a hard fight, but we had two jonin on our squad, which made a difference- when one shinobi just…  _ died. _ ”

His audience blinked at him. “Died.”

“Yep. One death screech and there he was, not breathing anymore.” He grinned a little around his cigarette. “Helluva thing. Then another one dropped, and another… well, we mopped up the rest. It wasn’t until the last of them had taken off, terrified, that we had a moment to figure out what on earth was going on.”

“So what was going on?” Kakashi asked, his nose already back in  _ Icha Icha _ . 

“She was crafty, was Ghost. Had a kekkei genkai that made her completely invisible- not even footprints. She’d gone over the cliff all right, but she’d stuck a kunai in the rocks and climbed back up. She waited, didn’t let any of her team know what she was doing-” a glare- “and then went after the enemy-nin with a vengeance. To everyone there, it looked like they were being killed by a ghost, so that’s what got put in their Bingo book. Name stuck.”

“Hmmm,” Kakashi said- mostly because it seemed like he should say something. “Thanks for the story.”

Asuma grunted and moved a piece on the board. Kazeko went back in the kitchen and busied herself with tea. The day wound down, the snacks were eaten, the last of the tea was drunk, and the genin trickled home as the skies turned twilight-dark. Kakashi took over Shikamaru’s side of the shogi board, and Kazeko began to button down the kitchen for the night. She wasn't quiet, but with the hawks gone and the window open, eavesdropping was child's play. 

“Why?” Asuma.

There was a pause- Kazeko could imagine the noncommittal shrug- “She told me to.”

Asuma heaved a sigh. “I bet she didn’t say to ask in front of the kids.”

“She’s training again,” Kakashi responded. “Tsunade’s reassigned her ANBU detail.”

“I saw the bruises. I told you to watch yourself, Kakashi.”

Kakashi didn’t mention that their host had snuck back outside and was lurking behind Asuma with an irritated look on her face. “Yeah, yeah.”

“If one of the other villages finds out she’s been alive this whole time, the next time she leaves the village without an escort we’ll find her pinned to a tree with empty eye sockets.” Asuma held his teacup over his shoulder. “Having the Shizukagan didn’t keep your brother from being ambushed and slaughtered for his eyes. And you’ve had five years off-duty.”

Kazeko tsked and took cup from him. “Sora was in the middle of a war. We’re not at war.”

“It doesn’t change the risks.”

She huffed. “Would you rather I sit here safe, or would you rather have one more weapon to keep the village safe? Asuma, I’m  _ not _ going to go run off and hunt down Orochimaru, but I can’t sit on my ass any more. I  _ know _ you know why. This village isn’t a haven. It’s half-destroyed!” 

“Fuko asked me to keep you-”

“Safe?  _ Asuma… _ ” It came out as a growl. “Don’t you think it’s a little  _ late _ for that?!”

“Maa,” Kakashi interrupted. “Tsunade does, at any rate.”

Asuma opened his mouth, thought again, and closed it with a click. “Kaze-chan,” he chided, “you better be kicking this guy’s ass in training, or I’ll handcuff you to Michi myself.”

Kazeko blinked. Her mouth stretched out into a sly grin. “Don’t worry,” she said. “This guy can’t even manage his Sharingan properly yet.”

Kakashi sputtered. Asuma chuckled and stood. “Fine. I’ll quit fussing. Don’t break him, he’s important.”

“No promises.” 

He tapped out a new cigarette. “Good night, Kaze-chan. ‘Night, Kakashi.”

“Good night, Asuma.”

“Maa, have a nice night.”

After Asuma left, Kakashi put away the shogi board while Kazeko finished inside. He came in while she was sweeping, stepped past her, and slid the window shut. His hitai-ite was pushed up over his forehead, his sharingan a red glare in the evening light.    
  
The shizukagan’s weak star-glow met the red and held it. “If my surveillance detail has been reassigned,” she murmured, “why has Mouse been sitting in the orchard for the last three hours?”

“I don’t know,” he lied. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am TERRIBLE at writing Asuma. >.<


	10. Scraps

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mere scraps of information can be troublesome.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This story needs more Shika.

Shikamaru tapped his fingers on the tabletop, restless. He didn’t know Asuma-sensei’s baker friend very well, just that she was friends with most of the jonin-instructors, that her assistant wasn’t really an assistant, and Asuma had gotten her permission before he’d told Kakashi the story about the Ghost Ninja. 

He’d asked his father about the Ghost Ninja, and he’d just shrugged. “Just another shinobi who didn’t make it,” he’d said. “Leave it be.” His Dad  _ never _ just said “Leave it be,” and if she’d died, he would’ve said  _ that. _

So Shikamaru was sitting in a bakery, waiting on tea, while Choji snacked on some kind of pastry next to him. Choji, for his part, didn’t consider much beyond the fact that they sold superior food here. Shikamaru wanted to know why their sensei had bothered to tell a story he clearly hadn’t wanted to tell- and it  _ wasn’t _ because Kakashi-sensei had asked him to. Though it was pretty obvious who it was about. 

“Here’s your tea, Shikamaru. Do you boys need anything else?” She even  _ moved _ like a shinobi.

He spoke over Choji’s call for more food. “No thanks. I’m set, Ghost.”

She just crooked an eyebrow at him. “If you need anything, just let me know, okay? On the house, boys.” She clicked her nails on the tray. “Asuma’s team is always welcome here.”

He smiled politely. “Thanks, Kazeko-san.”

Choji smacked his lips after they left. “What was that about, Shikamaru?”

“Just checking on something,” Shikamaru replied. “We should find Ino.”

Kazeko leaned against the kitchen door frame while Michi cleared the dishes from the table.

“What was that about?” They asked as she held the swing door open for them.

“Shikamaru needed to know it was safe to come here if they need help,” she said. 

Michi paused. “Is it?”

“ _ Yes _ . Brat.” 

They grinned. “Okay, Sensei.”

~!~

Jiraiya stared out over the old, craggy forest that spread out below the clearing he’d set up the picnic at. Tsunade could say what she wanted about his methods, but he knew damn good and well that when a shinobi got the urge, they wanted some anonymity- and a professional. But you booze up anybody enough, and all sorts of fun things that didn’t make any sense to someone besides Konoha’s spymaster came tumbling out. Usually, he didn’t even need to ask questions- just enjoy himself. And he did- enjoy himself. The honey-haired girl- his latest ‘honey,’- was asleep on the blanket beside him. The sake was gone, and she’d whined long and hard about any number of shinobi who’d been by her establishment. None of them had born any kind of resemblance to Orochimaru or his creepy apprentice. Which, really, Jiraiya expected that. It’s difficult to search for someone when they know how you search, being your old teammate and all. There were no duck-haired kids in baggy clothes with an attitude like an angry badger, either. There HAD been a ‘pair of weirdos in fancy robes,’ and that worried Jiraiya more than Orochi did. He was close to Fire Country, and if the Akatsuki were traveling close to where he was, THEY were much too close to Fire Country- and the kid. 

With  _ that _ bunch of bozos still hanging around Fire Country, Jiraiya was feeling pretty convinced that it was high time he quit hanging around questionable teahouses and started training Minato’s kid. He very purposefully didn’t think about the thirteen years he spent avoiding it. He’d been  _ busy _ . Too busy checking up on Orochi, keeping an eye on the forces moving in the world, being the old man’s eyes and ears. A kid would’ve dragged him down. 

At least he kept telling himself that. 

He didn’t bother shaking the woman awake- just left a good fee behind him. He hung around long enough to make sure she got back to town safe, then he turned his nose towards Konoha. 

~!~

Kazeko was bored. 

Not bored,  _ exactly…  _ maybe restless was a better word. It had been a month since the last update from Sasuke, the weather finally turned into cold dampness, and Mouse had yet to decamp from the orchard. Kazeko had taken to setting random booby-traps on certain branches, just to be an asshole. She didn’t mention it to Tsunade, but she resented being told one thing when the reality was she was being stalked by an  _ incompetent ANBU jackass _ . 

Really, they  _ had _ to know she could tell someone was watching her from her own backyard, right? Especially a shitstain like Mouse. 

She set up ward-seals around the training grounds, because you couldn’t be too careful, really. She re-set them when she noticed they’d been broken. The one-upmanship was starting to become its own form of entertainment.

If it weren’t for Kakashi joining her for training on occasion, she’d consider feeling hunted in her own village. It brought back memories. None of them were pleasant, but that was neither here nor there.  _ Dammit, I’m fucking cooperating. Piss off! _

Maybe Tsunade just wanted to make sure her informant was safe. Kazeko could tell herself that, and possibly even believe it. 

“Kaze.  _ Kaze _ . KAZE. Fuck, NOSURI!”

Kazeko realized she’d been spinning kick drills the whole time she’d been brooding and completely missed Kakashi standing ten feet away. “Hi?” Sweat steamed off of her into the cold.

Kakashi gave her a look. “Hi.”

“Uh… didn’t you have a mission? How long have you been back?”

The look got flatter. “Ten minutes or so.” He pointed at a hawk in the trees. “You have a visitor.”

_ Shit _ . She shrugged. “Not one of mine,” she said.

He crooked an eyebrow at her. 

“Kakashi, I  _ don’t _ know every hawk in Konoha. Hayao is always around, it’s probably being territorial. Why are you even here? You can’t have reported in already.”

“I saw the hawk fly in. Thought I’d see how you were.”

“Well, you’ve seen me. You should report in. Tsunade hates it when you make her wait, you know.”

He shrugged. “Probably you’re right,” he said. “I’ll see you later.” 

She waited until she could feel him shunshin away before she held her arm out to the hawk. It fluttered down, annoyed at being ignored, and she whispered an apology to it while she disentangled the paper from the messenger pouch on its back. The summon disappeared as soon as the paper was in her hands-

A body hit her in the solar plexus, and sixty kilos of silver-haired  _ asshole  _ snatched it away from her, pinned her arms under his knees, and shoved the paper in her face. The symbol for the Sand was scratched in charcoal on it, but there was nothing else. 

“ _ What the hell is this?! _ ” It was more of a growl than she’d ever heard out of Kakashi.

“Get  _ off me,  _ Kakashi!”

His face replaced the paper. “ _ It smells like Sasuke.” _ The Sharingan glowed an angry red four inches away from her nose. 

“ _ Fuck,” _ she hissed. “Keep your fucking  _ voice down, for fuck’s sake!” _

He moved his mouth closer to her left ear. “ _ Why?” _

She couldn’t look him in the eye- and that was dangerous enough for the both of them- but she hoped he could hear the truth when she whispered it to him. “Because I  _ promised him _ .”

“You  _ knew. _ ”

“I knew.”

Kakashi drew back to look at her again. The hand that wasn’t clutching the tiny scrap of paper fisted in her hair, and he held her head still as the sharingan spun. She suddenly understood why they used to call him Cold-Blooded Kakashi. His face wasn’t angry- it was just flat. She would have preferred rage.

“Kakashi,  _ wait-” _

_ “Sleep.” _

She went limp. Kakashi shifted off of her- carefully, waiting for her to explode into an attack that didn’t come- rolled her, and tied her arms behind her back before he hefted her onto his shoulder. He had a report to deliver.


	11. Fracture

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Conflict.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Trigger warning: panic attacks/ anxiety. 
> 
> If you aren't comfortable reading someone having a panic/ anxiety attack, I suggest skipping the part after Tsunade's office through to the next scene break. I'll summarize at the end of the chapter. <3

Kazeko had to work not to react when Kakashi’s shoulder shoved into her stomach. Somehow it didn’t seem to occur to him that someone who could shrug off Itachi Uchiha’s Tsukiyomi might not succumb that easily to a simple genjutsu. Was he hoping she’d try to escape?

Fat chance of that.

She heaved a sigh, as much of one as she could manage with a shoulder blocking her breath. It wouldn’t do to be seen in the village proper slung over Kakashi’s shoulder like a sack of flour. “Put me down, Kakashi.”

He put her down, all right- down and away, the Sharingan spinning. Her hip was going to _ache_ tomorrow, damnit. “Ow. Asshole!”

“Do _not_ move.” He still had that flat look on his face.

She growled, but stayed on her knees. “For fuck’s sake, Kakashi. Pull your head out of your ass. You know the sharingan has no effect on me if I don’t allow it. I could have killed you just now--” he shifted. That was perhaps _not_ the right thing to say-- “And I _didn’t_. Since when were you that _sloppy?”_

That got a reaction. Not a _good_ one- but a reaction. “Can it,” he snarled. “I don’t trust anything that comes out of your mouth.”

She snorted. “Like that’s anything _new_ for me.” She stood, one foot at at time, and he had her pinned between a kunai and a tree before she’d straightened her knees. She snarled. “T &I, or Tsunade, Kakashi? Tell me now, asshole, because if it’s T&I I’m going to have to think of a proper lie before we get there. I don’t know who’s there and I don’t trust them not to go after Sasuke.”

That made him pause. “I’m taking you to the Hokage.”

She relaxed. Made a show of it, even. “Then let’s get _going_ already. I’ve questions.”

The kunai pressed closer against her collar. “Do you think this is a joke?”

“No,” she retorted. Her eyes had gone blue- she couldn’t help it- “it is certainly not a joke. I’m not fighting you, Kakashi. Take me to the Hokage, fine, but let’s get _going_ , because I can feel Mouse inbound within a mile of here and I do _not_ want that prat to report this back to whoever the hell it is she actually reports to. _Now.”_

He lowered the kunai. “Fine,” he said. “We’ll go in _himitsu._ You _will_ maintain contact, or I will kill you myself.”

She startled. “Fine.”

 _Himitsu_ settled in half a second before Mouse came in visual range.  _Finally_ _._

_ Get moving. _

She did- as straight a route over the roofs as Kakashi could manage- and she did her best not to aggravate him further.

He _could_ kill her, after all. So she did her best not to give him a reason to.

She dropped _himitsu_ two steps into the Hokage’s office. Predictably, there were _several_ different kunai aimed at her vital points as soon as she was visible. She kept herself from snarling.   
  
_Fucking ANBU_.

“I trust you’ve got a reason for this, Kakashi.” Tsunade didn’t even bother looking up from her paperwork to wave the ANBU back to their posts.

He held the scrap out to her. The symbol scratched on it looked darker in the bright light of the office. “She had this. It smells like Sasuke.”

Tsunade glanced at it. Her eyes narrowed at Kazeko. “The Sand?”

“Yes.”

Tsunade glanced at Shizune, already halfway across the room and headed for the door. “Send an update,” she ordered- unnecessarily- and then, “Clear the room.”

Four chakra signatures faded surprisingly quickly as the Hokage’s guards obeyed the order. Kazeko sighed, a long exhale. Kakashi didn’t react at all.

Tsunade pinned Kazeko with a stare. “Explain to him why I have not yet declared Sasuke Uchiha a missing-nin.”

Kakashi frowned. “Because you’ve chosen to believe in Naruto’s ability to bring him back,” he recited. Not even he looked like he believed it. Tsunade scoffed.

Kazeko’s lips thinned, and her voice- so defiant before- was flat. “In exchange for Sasuke not being declared missing-nin, I agreed to disclose any messages he sends me.” Her face twisted a little, like the admittance was sour in her mouth. _Traitor._ It was in her frown and her clenched fists. And his.

“The updates have enabled us to keep a closer watch on Orochimaru’s movements,” Tsunade added. “Kazeko has managed to turn her cousins’ unfortunate life choices into a strategic advantage.” She smiled like a shinobi, sharp. Kazeko twitched. “Now get out of my office.”

~!~

 

 

Kakashi followed her as she hopped roofs back to the bakery. She didn’t try to lose him- not that she could- but it was enough that she couldn’t hide the fact that she was _running._ Away.

He gave her a fifteen-second lead before he landed on the garden wall.

He had a second to wonder why she was still in the garden, and a second to realize his Sharingan was still active, and a second to realize that she was shaking from head to toe.

“Kaze?”

She flinched. Michi stepped out of the kitchen and blanched. Kazeko’s head rolled towards him, and the Sharingan met blackness. Michi cried a warning, but they didn’t make it to her before she moved, too fast for anything but the Sharingan to catch.

He let her connect- the kunai that she hadn’t had left a slice in his sleeve, and directed her momentum back over the wall. He could see Michi frozen in the middle of the garden, blind in the darkness. _“Sensei!_ ” The shout blinked some blue black into one eye. He landed a solid punch- and if he pulled it, that was his business- and the black flickered.

“ _Kaze! Snap out of it!”_ He fought defensively- keeping her frantic strikes away from his vital points- until she left an opening. First, the hand with the kunai. Turn. Wrap, drop, hold… they wound up in an awkward position, his leg locked over her thigh and arms completely entangled, but Kakashi wasn’t going to get stabbed any time soon. “ _I’m not going to hurt you!”_

Kazeko was breathing through her mouth, loud, gasping hisses of breath. He could hear her in his head, a completely nonsensical, unending ramble of _no no no run fight no run run run fuck let go get out letgoletgoletgoIdontwanttodierunfuckfuckfuck._

He gentled his voice. “We’re just going to sit here for a bit,” he breathed, panting a little. “And everybody’s going to calm down. Won’t that be nice?”

“...Sensei? Kakashi-sensei?”

The black flickered. Her breathing slowed and the recitation in his head wound down. Light sifted through the darkness as she came back to herself, little by little. “Michi,” she croaked.

“Michi’s going to stay on the other side of this nice sturdy wall for a bit,” he ordered, loud enough to stop the steps he could hear almost at the gate. She was still shaking. He shifted them just enough that, when she lost her grip on the kunai, it landed safely on the grass instead of in his leg. “And we’re going to have a little chat.”

She shook her head in a quick jerk. “Nng,” she said, still too quickly.

Kakashi braced himself. In one swift grab, he snagged both of her arms in his right hand- she tried for the kunai- yanked a senbon out of one of his pockets and stabbed it into her thigh. The last of the shadows fell, and Michi came over the wall as Kazeko, finally, went completely limp.

“Sensei!” They hauled her out of his hold and cradled her against them. “What the hell happened?! _What did you do?”_

He sagged against the wall, out of breath. “She’ll be out for a little while,” he told them. “I’ll help you carry her inside.”

“Like hell!” It came out in a snarl.

“Michi,” he said carefully, “she was having a panic--

“ _I know!_ ” Michi gathered their Sensei in their arms and stood. “So what the hell _did you do to her?!”_

“I just…” Kakashi subsided. Centered himself, covered his sharingan again. “It was a misunderstanding.”

Michi’s face shuttered. They turned, putting their body between him and their burden. “Get out.”

“She’ll be okay…” It was too much like a plea. “She’ll wake up in an hour or so,” he blurted, the words tumbling out of him before he fled back to his own apartment.

The door slammed shut behind him too loudly. He jumped, nearly missed the shuriken that he’d rigged to fly at intruders, and sliced his finger.

His hand was bloody. Just a little, but the panicked whisper in his head had changed voices.

Blood on his hands again. _Again._

 _Kakashi the friend-killer_ , the voice whispered. _Blood on his hands._

No. He breathed through his nose, long deliberate breaths. “No,” he said, out loud this time. He thought about rinsing off the blood- moved towards the bathroom- and abruptly changed course. The first-aid kit was well stocked. He did _not_ need to scrub his hands free of blood.

He didn’t. _He didn’t._

The door slammed shut too loudly when he left. When he padded over the roof above Kazeko’s window he could hear Michi rustling below, until the window slammed shut. He stayed on the roof, standing vigil.

~!~

 

 

Kazeko woke up to Michi perched on the chair in her bedroom, a headache, and the beginnings of adrenaline-induced exhaustion. “Ughh.”

Michi was much too close, much too quickly. “Sensei!”

She rubbed at her face. “ _S_ _pace,_ Mi-chan.”

“Are you okay? What happened?”

_What the hell is this?_

_I don’t trust anything that comes out of your mouth._

_I’ll kill you myself._

_Strategic Advantage._

_Kaze?_

She inhaled carefully and patted Michi’s hand. “Just a panic attack, Mi-chan.”

“But Kakashi…”

“Just the wrong place at the wrong time,” she said. “And stress.” She smiled, “that’s all. Really.”

Michi looked at her, their brow knitted in concern, and she gave their hand another pat. “I just need a bit to calm down, okay? Why don’t you head downstairs and check on things. I’ll be fine.”

They went, unhappily, but they went. She scrubbed her face with her hands. “Kakashi,” she called softly.

The window slid open. “Hey,” he said. His hand had a new bandage on it. She winced, and poked at it with a finger. She looked at him, her eyes big, and brown, and fragile. “That wasn’t you,” he said, reassuring.

His eye was a little bloodshot.

Her hands were trembling, just a little bit. “Thank you for keeping Michi safe,” she said.

“I shouldn’t have followed you,” he admitted.

She nodded. “ANBU,” she gulped. “And the chasing. And-before...”

He swallowed. “I’m sorry.”

She paused. Her expression didn’t change so much as it crystallized. She lifted her arm like she was going to pat his hand- and punched him square in the face. The window slammed shut just before he landed in the street.

She felt a little better after that.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So after Tsunade drops that bombshell on Kakashi's head, Kakashi follows Kazeko home, which stacks on the crap day she's had.  
> She has a nasty panic attack that triggers an involuntary use of Himitsu Sayo (like she did in the prologue). Kakashi has to drug her to get her to stop, but Michi has no idea what's going on, and is overprotective. Kakashi cuts himself on accident when he returns home, which triggers his -canon- anxieties about having blood on his hands. He talks himself out of it and leaves to spy on Kazeko out of guilt, to make sure she's okay.


	12. Dogs

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Just a bunch of loyal mutts.

Jiraiya hadn’t expected to be bowled over fifteen seconds after stepping through the gate- and he wasn’t, though Naruto did  _ try. _

“Hey, kid. You’re looking better.” Most of the bandages were gone. 

“One Hundred Percent, believe it! So are we gonna go soon, Pervy Sage?”

“Damnit, kid. Is that any way to address your teacher? My name’s Jiraiya.  _ Use it.” _

“Yeah, yeah. Whatever you say, Pervy Sage. Hey, are you gonna see Granny Tsunade?”

Jiraiya sighed. “Yeah, kid. I’ve got to give the  _ Hokage _ my report like every other ninja in the village. Then we need to start on your training, so you better have your stuff packed. We hit the road tomorrow.”

“We’re really leaving? You’re gonna teach me a badass new jutsu, right?” The kid was practically bouncing off the buildings.

“Sure, kid. Hey, chill out, will ya? You’re cramping my style.”

Naruto scoffed. “You only  _ wish _ you had style like me,  _ Pervy Sage _ .”

“Yeah, yeah. Scram. Go pack, or I’ll leave you behind tomorrow.”

That worked. Jiraiya hustled to the Hokage’s office- faster than he usually moved, at least. He wasn’t in the mood to get stuck in conversation with random passersby, no matter how- er- gorgeous they were.

Konoha had some honeys, all right. 

Maybe he could afford to be a  _ little _ late. For research purposes.

~!~

Tsunade wasn’t as amused when she hunted him down several hours later and dragged him out of the bathhouse by his  _ ears. _ “You good-for-nothing perverted  _ jackass _ where the hell have you BEEN?!”

“Heyyyy, Hime… ow ow oww  _ let go _ we’re not  _ twelve _ anymore!”

She dropped him in an alley. “You were supposed to check in a week ago!”

He rubbed his ear. “I had to take a detour.”

She crossed her arms and glared. He knew from experience not to stare at her cleavage. So he didn’t. Mostly. “Explain.”

“Akatsuki are hanging around the villages,” he said. His voice was low enough not to carry. 

She grimaced. “Right. Come on, I need a map.”

“You need a drink,” he countered. 

“...Shut up, Jiraiya.”

~!~

Kakashi hadn’t been able to assail the doorway of Himitsu Bakery in a week. If he was lucky, Michi was there fingering whichever weapon they had close to hand, and if he was unlucky, Kazeko activated whichever trap seal she’d hidden in the walls that day.

So maybe he wasn’t really  _ trying _ , but after their last encounter he preferred having permission instead of sneaking in. So he was reduced to trying their patience, because even when they didn’t  _ want _ to talk to him, he did intend to keep reminding them that eventually Kazeko would  _ have to. _ So he popped in whenever he went by, dodged whatever came flying at his head, and ducked back out. Asuma had taken to mumbling “hopeless” at him. Maybe, if they were lucky, the Root spy who followed her would believe that an isolated Kazeko was a less viable threat.

Kakashi hadn’t ever been that lucky, so he took care to make his presence very,  _ very  _ obvious. Even if it got kitchen implements thrown at his head. Thrown by ninjas- so at least a few of them actually connected. Hilt-first, though, so he was hopeful.

It took two weeks. 

Two weeks after he’d tackled her in the training grounds, after she’d gone for his throat in the garden, she answered his cautious check-in with a tired “Michi, let him in.”

He only took two steps inside. Michi’s arm was coming down from being being ready to throw something at him, their face a mixture of disdain and surprise. “Hi, Mi-chan.”

Michi sneered and disappeared into the kitchen. He watched Kazeko watch them leave instead of looking at him.

“So… hi.”

Her eyes closed. “Hi.”

He shoved his hands in his pockets. “So… am I forgiven yet?”

She glared at him- still with her eyes closed. “The only reason you’re in here is Asuma threatened to let the entire Akimichi clan at my inventory.”

He made a mental note to thank Asuma when he got the chance. “Can we talk about it, at least?”

She inhaled, her shoulders settled and her mouth softened before she opened her eyes. “Fine,” she said. She looked like she was wearing a mask of her face. “Upstairs.” Without checking to see if he followed- though he supposed she didn’t really need to- she crossed to the stairwell and climbed up to the the second floor. She skipped her bedroom door, avoided Michi’s room, a living space, and headed straight for what appeared to be a closet.

It wasn’t.

She walked into the safe room and stepped aside to motion him after. 

“Since when did a bakery need a safe room,” he murmured. 

“You’ve read the file,” she growled.

He huffed. “I really haven’t,” he retorted. 

She rolled her eyes. “Lie better,” she said. She let him take one step inside before she closed the door. He aimed for the opposite wall and sank down- there was only the floor to sit on. The whisper of chakra that threaded through the room after the door clicked was expected. Kazeko stayed on her feet, her back against the door. 

Kakashi was used to being treated like a  pariah ; he didn’t take it personally. “So,” he said. “Sasuke.”

Her eyes narrowed.

“It was classified. I understand why I wasn’t informed. I’m… I apologize for assuming you were a traitor. And nearly blowing your cover.”

She dragged a shuddering breath into her lungs. “It wasn’t your fault. You didn’t know. You did exactly what you should have done- I should have told you before. I just… I couldn’t risk it, I’m sorry. You’re his Sensei- you  _ should _ have been informed. But he’s… he’s all I have  _ left. _ Itachi ki--” she stopped. Redirected. He could see her hands beginning to tremble. “I knew I couldn’t talk him out of it- and I… if I have to break his trust to keep him  _ alive- _ I’ll do it. I promised him I’d keep the village off his back. I gambled on Tsunade. She hasn’t used it to bring me back a corpse. Yet.” She paused again. “That I know about.”

He inhaled through his nose. “She won’t. She’s fond of Naruto- and he’s… Naruto.”

She grimaced. “He is something.”

Kakashi shifted. “So. Panic attacks, huh?”

Her mouth twisted. “I told you I couldn’t be trusted in the field.”

“That wasn’t a battle,” he told her gently. “At least tell me what  _ not _ to do.”

She shook her head, her eyes squeezed shut. “ANBU,” she said. “Just don’t… don’t  _ follow _ me. I’m already…” she gulped. Gulped again, biting the air.

“Kaze… you’re  _ safe _ , Kaze. Hey. It’s just us, here. Kaze?”

She looked up into the Sharingan. “You’re safe here,” he said again.

Her knees gave out in a slow slide, but her breathing evened out. She nodded, her eyes closed again, and brought her thumb to her mouth. 

“Kazeko…”

She licked the pad and swiped it through a tattoo on her upper arm. It smeared- ink, then; and the henge she’d apparently set on her skin-  _ did she just walk around like that all the time-  _ faded.

There were burn scars.  _ Too many burn scars. _ Without realizing it, he’d crossed the room and taken her wrist in his hand, turned her arm to see them clearly. “These are all from seals. What-”

“After Itachi killed the Uchiha, I went to Lord Third in my uniform and asked him to let me hunt him down. I’d been retired for two years. He told me no.” She swallowed. “I tried to go anyway.” She held her arms out, turning them so she could glare at every scar. She looked at her scars as if she was contemplating skinning her arms to be rid of them. “The ANBU he assigned to keep me in Konoha were very… strict… about allowing me farther than the  _ garden _ . I kept trying. I kept trying until I couldn’t fucking  _ walk _ . Eventually one of the nurses reported that if they kept draining my chakra like they were, they would kill me. And I’m too _ valuable _ to kill _. _ So they said they’d take my eyes the next time. I stopped trying.”

Her hands clenched in Kakashi’s,  “I still had to prove I’d behave before he assigned me a new bodyguard. And now…” she gave him a feral smile, “now I’m the Hokage’s good little bitch. Safe like a little pet  _ dog _ . And someone’s  _ pet-sitting _ . _ ” _

Kakashi sat back on his heels. “Well, I don’t know about  _ that, _ ” he said. “If I assigned my dogs a pet-sitter they would  _ eat _ the poor bastard.”

That got him a gaspy little chuckle. “You’re such an asshole.”

“Yeah. So tell me next time I do something stupid, huh? I can’t stop something if you don’t tell me it’s bugging you.”

She huffed. “Yeah. I’ll try, I guess. Next time let Michi handle it, okay? They’re trained for it. And they might murder you in your sleep if you fuck me up again.”

“It’s funny you think I sleep.” He stood. “Help up?”

“No. I’ll get up in a minute.”

“Uh… you’re kind of in front of the door…”

“So?”

He shoved his hands in his pockets. “Guess I’ll hang out for a bit, then.”

Kazeko curled her arms around her knees. “I’m still going to be mad at you,” she grumbled. “You made me have a panic attack.” She held her hand out. “Look, my hands are still shaking.”

He shrugged. “Guess I’ll have to do better, then. Shaky hands can’t aim very well. Who’s going to throw knives at my head if you can’t aim?”

“... Asshole. I’ll start throwing  _ rocks _ at your head. Maybe you’ll finally catch a larger target!”

“Maa, my training partner is so  _ mean! _ ”

“You’re the one who can’t  _ aim! _ ”

“Is that how you treat your comrades-in-arms?”

“I’ll  _ show _ you how I’ll treat you next time I have you out for training! I’ll beat you with your own porn rag!”

“Heyyy, is that any way to treat great literature?”

“You are  _ such _ a pervert.”

He held his hand out again. “Better?”

She huffed and let him pull her up. “Yeah. I’m still going to beat your ass; but at least my face won’t make  _ Michi _ beat you. This time.”

“I’ll look forward to it.”

“... Pervert.”

~!~

Kakashi waited outside the orchard that night after Mouse finished her surveillance shift. She took a roof past the sector boundary, and a shadow shifted. She fell into readiness, a kunai in her hand by instinct.

“So, how has Lord Danzo been these days?”

She tried to snap back a retort, but the seal stopped her. “Mind your own missions, Hatake.”

He grinned apologetically over his porn. “Oh, sorry. I thought you were someone else. My mistake. Carry on.”

~!~

“I’ve been made, sir. Kakashi Hatake cornered me on my way back to base.”

Danzo Shimura sighed gently and rubbed his thumb over his cane. “It was only to be expected that he would become troublesome eventually. How has his relationship with his neighbor fared as of late?”

“The falling-out does not seem to be permanent, sir. But due to the nature of her mental instabilities, she will not be able to trust him.”

“Hmm. Very well, then. Get some rest. You have done well.”

“Thank you, sir.”

  
  



	13. Backspin

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> When your whole life is bad dreams.

“Aniki! Momma, momma, nii-san’s home!”

Sora braced himself as a tiny pigtailed terror launched herself at his middle and clung. “Hi Aniki! Look, nee-san is teaching me how to throw knives!” 

He gently disarmed the flailing five-year old and stashed the kunai in his own weapons pouch before he swung his baby sister up on his shoulders. “I’m sure Fuko-chan is also teaching you how to throw knives  _ safely, _ right, Kaze-chan?”

“... yes…”

“Soraaa! That was  _ mine! _ Give it back!”

He stuck his tongue out at his next-youngest sister. “You let her run around the house with it. It’s mine now. If you want it back, get it back like a shinobi.”

“Hmf. I’ll get it back, just wait!”

Sora laughed. Their mother, Mai, poked her head in the room, “Sora! You’re home. I hate to ask when you’ve just gotten back from a mission, but can you watch the girls? You’re father’s on a mission, and I have to run to your Grandfather’s.”

“Mooom I’m a shinobi, I don’t need  _ watching!” _

Their mother, who looked soft, round, and matronly (if you were an  _ idiot _ ) gave her eight-year old a  _ look. _ “ _ You _ are still in the Academy, young lady. And you’re grounded. So no sneaking out to the Uchiha compound to go spy on that boy you have a crush on while I’m gone, understand?”

Fuko gave her an absolutely mortified look. “ _ Mom!” _

“No arguments.” She gave each of her children kisses. “Behave yourselves for your brother. Sora, I’ll be back in a few hours.”

Sora grinned and waved his little sister’s hand. “Bye, Mom.” The door shut, and he gave his sisters a wicked grin. “So, who wants to go visit Aunt Ayame?”

~!~

Seiji Nosuri clenched his fist around the small scroll and glared at the shinobi in front of him. “His eyes?” he asked, already knowing the answer.

“Removed, sir. I’m so sorry.” 

He looked at his now-eldest child, still in her Chuunin vest with blood smeared on her face. “Fuko,” he said. He raised his arm and let her tuck herself into his chest. He thanked every god he knew that his youngest was not home from school yet.

“It’s my fault,” she told him, “Brother was trying to protect me. He hid me so I could get away- but he didn’t say- he didn’t tell me he wasn’t--” her tears spilled over onto her father’s chest. “It’s  _ my fault _ .”

“No, my dearest.” He soothed. “Your brother was a true shinobi. He sacrificed himself to keep you and the village safe. It wasn’t your fault.”

She sniffed and stepped away, swiping the back of her hand over her eyes. Seiji watched the only one of his children who did not inherit his kekkei genkai square her shoulders and become a warrior. “I’ll get them back,” she declared, tears leaving tracks through the blood on her face. “I’ll get back big brother’s eyes and make sure no one steals from our family again.” 

An eight-year-old Kazeko backed silently out of the entryway and ran to her Grandfather’s bakery. It wasn’t until several hours later, when Seiji came to tell his father the bad news, that she was found hiding in the orchard, smeared with dirt and exhausted with crying.

~!~

“Grandpa,” Kazeko asked, “what are you digging in the garden for?”

Her grandfather, a busy man and unable to not  _ make things _ , paused and wiped the sweat off of his brow. “I am building us a hot bath,” he said. “Won’t that be nice?”

The ten-year old frowned at him. Her eyes were puffy from crying. “What for? Can’t we just go to the normal baths?”

He patted his youngest grandchild on the head. “I think this family could use somewhere quiet to sit and reflect,” he said. “Don’t you?”

The corners of her mouth turned down, but she nodded. A little while later, she picked up her own spade and helped him dig. They dug out the pit for the bath that day. For the next several weeks she helped him work and he drew her out of the quiet place young Nosuri children tended to hide in when they were in pain. She flickered out of his sight less and less, and he occasionally added small hints about how to control the family kekkei genkai when he caught her rubbing her eyes, or watched them fade from their normal brown. When she had nailed the final nail into the boards of the new cedar fence, he clapped her on the shoulder and steered her into his bakery’s kitchen.

“Now, my dear,” he said. “This old bird has something to show a little Hawk like you. Do you see that knot right there in the floor? Why don’t you tell me if there is a seal on that knot.”

~!~

The fourteen-year-old knelt in front of the memorial stone and chatted at her brother and sister. She obediently recited the progress she had been making with her sensei for her parents, and recounted the exploits of two-year-old Uchihas with relish, knowing her older sister would have loved to hear them. It was her weekly ritual, and brought her comfort. 

A cane-tipped shadow moved next to her, and she stood to greet the village’s old war hero. 

~!~

Kazeko bolted out of bed when the alarm interrupted her dreams. The kunai she slept with swept through the empty space of Danzo Shimura’s throat before she stopped, sweat dripping in her eyes, and set it carefully on the stand next to her bed.

This time, at least, the dream had stopped when she was still only fourteen. She cursed at herself, shed her sleep clothes, and walked naked to the shower before she opened the kitchen downstairs.

Three hours later, she was nursing a cup of very strong tea, waiting for the first customers, when a backpack walked past the door. She blinked, and the backpack proved to be attached to a blonde, spiky-haired genin.

She grabbed a few pastries out of the case, bagged them, and sprinted to the door. “Going somewhere, Naruto-chan?”

“Baker-san!” He puffed up- as puffed as he could get, considering his packing skills. “I’m going to train! I’ll come back twice as strong as Sasuke, you’ll see!”

She handed him the bag of pastries. “I’m sure you will. Good luck, Naruto. Train hard.”

“Thanks, Baker-san!” He turned, his blonde head completely obscured by the comically overfilled pack. It took a long time for him to shrink into the distance.

“Michi,” she said quietly, “I think I’ll go for a bit of a walk. Keep an eye on the shop.”

Michi leaned against the doorframe, calmly wiping their hands on a rag. “Yes, sensei.”

She let herself slip into Himitsu before she took the first step. Michi sighed, but she was already gone.

~!~

The memorial stone had new names carved into the plinth, but her fingers knew where to find the seven familiar names regardless. It was part of her muscle memory, at this point.

She started with her brother and moved through the names in the order she’d lost them in. She’d broken the habit of updating her fallen the day Danzo had surprised her, but the ritual was still soothing after a nightmare.

“Seven is a high number.”

Kazeko curled her fingers in front of her. “Any number is too high, Lady Tsunade.”

The Hokage stepped next to her and handed her a small flask. “It is.”

She drank, and the strong sake didn’t burn her throat. She let it heat her stomach before she spoke again, and she ran her fingers over the names, more slowly this time. “My family,” she recounted, “and my team.” She hesitated at the last- because it wasn’t the last, not really- but her Hokage finished her thought anyway. 

“Your Sensei, your fiance... your child. Your clan. Your sanity.”

She clenched her teeth. “Yes,” she said. “That, too.”

Tsunade crouched in front of the plinth and laid her fingers across her own list of names. “I am tired of adding new names to this plinth,” she admitted. “When my Grandfather founded this village, the Senju were there, working towards peace. All of their names are on here- no one from my clan dies in their sleep.” She stood, and Kazeko handed her back the flask. She took a long swig before she continued. “I understand waking up from nightmares.”

Kazeko squared her shoulders. Tsunade turned her head to watch the shinobi overtake the mourner.

“Lady Tsunade,” Kazeko said, “I want to help you stop adding names to this plinth.”

The Hokage took another swig from her flask. “Good.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I need to be more consistent with how I use honorifics I'M SORRY sobadatthis. Also I have internet again, yay!!


	14. Tap

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kazeko gets her mission orders.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey y'all I'M BACK. Sorry for not posting... anything... for a few months. I've been in the middle of moving and unpacking and generally recovering from some stressful sh*t, and some writer's block. But I'm back! Hooray! Have some Windborn. I'll update Bakery No Jutsu soon as well.

Kazeko was dangling out of a tree when Kakashi was next in the village to see her. She was sending arrows into targets too difficult to see without the sharingan, hanging off of one of the giant branches from the soles of her feet.

“Bows are an unusual shinobi weapon,” he said.

She flipped to the ground, landed another shot, and looked at him. “So?”

He studied his book and spoke between casual page flips. “Tsunade wants you.”

She narrowed her eyes. “You’re not going to toss me over your shoulder again, are you?”

“ _ Me? _ I would  _ never. _ ” Page flip. “You have a mission.”

“...I do?”

He crooked an eyebrow over the orange cover. “You do.”

She rolled her eyes at him before retrieving her arrows. “If you're going to stand there, you could help, you know!”

He rattled a handful of arrows he’d already gathered. “With what?” 

“... right. I’ll just get my gear, then.” 

“OK.”

She turned back to him. “Are you coming?”

He cocked his head at her. “Why? It’s not  _ my _ mission.”

“... Fine. Bye.”

“Bye.”

~!~

Tsunade studied Kazeko’s bowed head over her folded hands. “I’ve looked over your file, Nosuri-san. You are listed as a sensory-type shinobi with a range of two kilometers and a strong chakra reserve. However, the last time you were evaluated was at eighteen. I need to know what your abilities are  _ today. _ Tell me where my assistant is right now.”

Kazeko blinked at her. “Shizune is at the guard station at the main gate.”

“Kakashi Hatake.”

“One kilometer east of here, probably at his home.”

“The ANBU Cat.”

“One-point-eight-five kilometers west. Training grounds.”

“Asuma Sarutobi.”

There was a pause. Tsunade felt a tingle of foreign chakra wash over her skin before the shinobi’s eyes flooded with blue.

“Four kilometers South,” Kazeko said finally. “Probably the Southern watchtower. Lady Tsunade, if it will save some time. My usual range is two-point-nine-seven kilometers. My range within  _ Himitsu _ is five-point-six. I can, currently, hold Himitsu for seventeen consecutive hours, provided I do not need to use extensive jutsus. If I need to activate  _ Himitsu Sayo, _ that number goes down to four hours. I am proficient in yin, wind, and fire chakra release.” 

Tsunade cleared her throat. “Impressive.”

“I earned my rank,” Kazeko said dryly.

“Indeed.” Tsunade plucked a bundle out of her desk. “Kazeko Nosuri,” she intoned, “Some time ago you swore to aid me in keeping the shinobi of the Hidden Leaf alive.” She set the bundle, a standard ANBU uniform, on her desk close to Kazeko. “Are you still willing?”

Kazeko feathered her fingers over the black bar painted across the mask’s eyes, a moment of hesitation before she gathered the bundle into her arms and squared her shoulders. “I swear to do anything within and beyond my power to bring every shinobi under my care back to Konoha alive.”

Tsunade nodded. “You report to Shizune or myself only. Your ANBU contacts are Eagle and Cat. Mission details are waiting for you at your home.” She picked up a page from the stack of reports on her desk. “Bring them back home, Ghost.”

Kazeko put the mask over her face, faded into Himitsu, and was gone.

~!~

She tossed the mask as soon as she got home. It landed somewhere in the vicinity of her laundry pile and she landed on her bed, head in her hands. 

A paper bird plonked into the middle of her forehead. She blinked at the origami mission report before she looked up at her apprentice’s wry grin. “I’m reasonably certain you’re not supposed to be able to look at that.”

“Well, I made a bird out of it.” Michi was leaning in the door frame, spinning Kazeko’s new mask around one finger. “What’s up, Sensei? Is Tsunade-sama giving us missions now?”

She narrowed her eyes at Michi. “Shizune is spoiling you,” she accused. “She’s giving  _ me _ missions. You need to be in the village to study, Mi-chan.”

Michi came in and sat next to their Sensei, the mask held out at arm’s length. “You won’t need a scarf now,” they observed. “That’s probably good.”

The porcelain of the mask was cool when Kazeko plucked it out of Michi’s hand. “I don’t like the idea of wearing this thing,” she admitted. “But if I can do missions again, I suppose it’s worth it.”

“Well, that’s good.”

Both shinobi exploded off the bed and spun to the newcomer dangling in the window, weapons in hand. “Fuck, Eagle, don’t  _ do _ that!” Michi snapped. “How the hell did you even sneak up here without setting off the alarms?”

Kazeko narrowed blue eyes at the ANBU. “More importantly, how did  _ I _ not notice you sneaking up here?”

The ANBU wiggled his fingers at them. “It’s a secret,” he said. He did a smooth flip and landed on the edge of the bed, a tattoo kit in his hand. “You need one more thing,” he said. “Have you read your mission briefing yet?” 

Kazeko swiped it off the floor. “Nope,” he said, wiggling the kit. “You can read while I ink. This mission is with me, anyway.”

Kazeko stripped down to her undershirt with a heavy sigh. “I suppose I should have expected an escort on the first mission out.”

“Yep,” he said. “The first few missions, at least.”

Michi moved a desk chair closer to the bed. “I’ll get out of the way,” they said. 

Eagle dipped his needle into the ink-pot. “If you stick around downstairs, you can heal this for her later. Otherwise, open wound on a mission, bad idea, that sort of thing.”

They nodded. “Sure. Yeah. I can do that… you’ll be okay, Sensei?”

She smiled. “I’ll be fine, Mi-chan. Why don’t you go make us some tea? I’ll probably be jittery later.”

They left, and Eagle swiped her shoulder with an antiseptic wipe. “You’ve gotten tattoos before, I see. I’ll spare you the spiel.”

She grimaced at her arms. The holding seal, the summoning seal… most Shinobi didn’t try to inscribe such things on their own skin, but she, like the rest of her family, had never balked at it. “Can you hand me that,” she asked, gesturing at the wipe. “Just for a second.” 

He handed her the wipe, she took a deep breath, and the wipe dissolved the fresh ink of the only seal that wasn’t indelibly inked into her skin. Her burns were immediately visible, and she fixed her eyes forward, not wanting to look at them- or him. “Now you can start.”

He wiped her shoulder again, picked up his needle, and started pricking it into her skin. “That’s a lot of scars,” he said. “Good thing our binding seals have gotten better in the past few years.”

She gritted her teeth and unfolded the report with one hand. “Some of you had quite a lot of practice perfecting them.”

He paused. “I won’t need practice,” he intoned. “Just don’t shred anyone you’re not supposed to.”

She looked at him. His mask was- a mask- and hid any kind of emotion, but he continued. “I was part of the clean-up when you were first attacked here,” he said while he calmly stabbed a needle into her arm, again and again. “And the third time.”

She huffed. “You never gave me any of these burns,” she told him. “I would remember.”

He shrugged and re-dipped the needle. “Most of those Shinobi were reassigned years ago,” he told her. “Lord Third was unhappy when you were admitted to the hospital half-dead.” The needle stabbed into her arm again. “Also, you were batshit insane.”

She showed him her teeth. “Don’t believe everything you read in reports.”

“Rai’s reports were always verbal,” he countered. She blinked.

He stopped stabbing long enough to push his mask up on his head. She blinked again at his mild brown eyes and teasing grin. “I’ve been the Hokage’s guard for a long time,” he said. “You hear a lot of things that no one else knows about. So yes, I know what happened, I know you have problems with ANBU, and I know you had problems with Lord Third and the Council because of it. You know you’re on probation.  _ I _ know Lady Tsunade isn’t going to tell the Council unless you fuck something up so badly they find out.”  _ Tap tap tap. _

“Don’t trust the council,” he added.

She snorted. “I never have,” she said. 

“Probably wise,” he said mildly. “They have old prejudices.”

“You’re pretty chatty for an ANBU.”

“You might not be part of the Hokage’s guard,”  _ tap tap tap,  _ “but Lady Tsunade assigned you to my team.”  _ Tap tap tap, dip. Tap tap. _ “You’re my responsibility—and if you keep our Shinobi alive, I’ll keep you alive. And informed. We have to trust each other.”

She nodded. “Thanks.”

He kept tapping. “Thank me when I’m done stabbing you.”

“Heh. Right.” She smoothed the wrinkled report. “So this mission. We’re escorting… an escort?”

“Escorting an envoy to the Hidden Mist;” he agreed. “It should be simple.”

“Except it’s an envoy to the Mist, and that’s… never been simple.”

“Nope.”

“That’s why us?”

“That’s why us. But we might get lucky, and nothing happens. Hey! I’m done.” He waved his needle at her. “See? Lucky.”

“Right.” She curled her arm around to look at her new ANBU tattoo. “Do you want some tea?”

He was already halfway out the window, his mask back on. “Nah. Just meet us outside the main gate in the morning. Bye!”

She sighed, closed the window behind him, and went downstairs to burn the mission order and drink Michi’s tea.


	15. Chatter- part 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mission... accomplished?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is only the first half of chapter 15, but it's enough of a block to pop up on its lonesome and it's late so here you go! I haven't had much to post on this story for awhile so it's nice to have something to put up, even if it's not quite finished.

Kazeko slumped onto the stool Michi had thumped into the middle of the orchard. She grimaced, pulled her arm around, and winced at the black bruise around her elbow. Her arm wasn’t broken- but it was close. A hairline fracture of the ulnar process.

Her apprentice put their hands on their hips and pinned her bruised face with a scowl. “What  _ happened?!” _

She sighed and probed the cut along her cheekbone with the arm that hadn’t blocked the business end of a spear. “We weren’t lucky,” she said, her voice flat with exhaustion.

Leaves rustled in the trees above them. “We certainly weren’t,” Eagle agreed. “But we got everyone home. Mission accomplished, Ghost. Well done.”

She’d grimace, but the nerves in her face were doing the unpleasant not-quite-pain tingle, and she wanted part of her not to hurt for a bit longer. “Tell me that when my elbow isn’t broken.”

“It’s not broken,” Michi said. “At least, it won’t be in a minute.” Their hands began to glow with healing chakra, “quit fidgeting, Sensei.”

She sighed and let her head roll back on her shoulders. “Do I have clearance to know what the Hokage thinks about the incident?”

“Not yet. You’re still on probation.”

“I suppose that’s fair.”

The eagle mask, the only part of her squad commander that was visible, tilted to the side. “Will you recognize the chakra signatures of the ones that ran?”

She glared, insulted. “Of course.” The fracture in her elbow healed with a sharp  _ snap _ . “Ow.”

“Sorry, Sensei. Cheekbone next.” The glow blocked out her vision. She closed her eyes.

A rustle accompanied a fourth witness to all her bruises. “Eagle.”

“Hatake,” he responded. “Ghost, I’ll see you later.”

“Thanks, Eagle,” she said to the utter silence of his exit.

The sound of bark scraping against canvas told her Kakashi had leaned against a tree. “Rough mission?”

“You could say that,” she said. Michi poked her in the nose. “Sorry, Mi-chan.”

“They got ambushed,” Michi supplied. “On the return trip.”

“Hmm.”

Her skin sealed, and the bruises on her face receded into mere soreness. “All done, Sensei.”

She stretched her arm, savoring the painless movement. She hadn’t been able to move it in a day and a half- or rather, she  _ shouldn’t _ have been moving it for a day and a half. She’d spent it fighting for the lives of the chunin under her protection instead. “Good job, Mi-chan. Lady Shizune should be proud of you.”

Michi preened. “She says I learn quickly. If you keep this up, I’ll get plenty of practice.”

Kakashi snickered. 

“Shut up, Hatake.”

“You need to train more,” he retorted. “You haven’t fought with a team in years. It shows.”

She snorted. “Look who’s talking. Who’s ass was it I had to save a few months ago, because  he went in alone against an entire squad of Takigakure shinobi?”

Kakashi snapped his book shut. “I’ll talk to some of my ANBU contacts and see if I can’t find a few to train with.”

“...thanks, Kakashi.”

He pushed off the tree and held his hand out. “Come on, up. There’s a medicated bath with your name on it just a few short yards away.”

Michi watched them with a crooked grin. “Well, that’s my cue to go to bed, I think.”

If she wasn’t already exhausted, Kazeko was certain her face would be just as red as the vibrant pink that glowed above Kakashi’s mask. “Good night, Mi-chan,” she said. Kakashi slung her arm over his shoulder. Which, considering her shaky knees, was an intelligent choice. Even if it made her heart pound in her chest.

“Kaze,” he said as he hitched her a little closer to his side, “do you need me to carry you?”

“No,” she grumbled. “It’s just chakra exhaustion. I’ll be fine.” 

“Chakra exhaustion on an escort mission.”

She frowned at the fence separating them from her hot, relaxing bath. “I don’t think it was an escort mission- ah!”

He’d swept her up and carried her through the illusionary fence. “You know better than to talk about missions when other people can hear you. You must really be tired.”

“You asked,” she groused. “Put me down, Kakashi.”

He did, then turned his attention to removing her sandals. “I can undress myself, you idiot.”

He hummed something non-committal in response. “Michi left miso and rice for you,” he said instead. “Eat it before you get in.”

“I will if you quit fussing.”

“...Fine.” He held out the platter Michi had left. “Here. Eat.”

She did. He watched her while she ate, and nudged her when her head started to nod between bites. She felt a bit better after, and while she didn’t feel quite as comfortable as she had before- she was too tired to examine the reasons why- she still stripped down to her mission-ready underclothes and sighed as she sank slowly into the steaming, fragrant bath. “What did you put in this?”

He shrugged. He stayed at the far edge of the raised patio, she noticed. In that position he could keep one eye on her and one eye on the entrance to the enclosed space. “Shizune dropped off a satchel from Tsunade earlier. You’ll have to ask her.”

“Michi will probably know,” she said. She yawned. “Keep me from drowning, will you?”

He snorted. “Darn, I figured I’d wait until you turned into a relaxed, sleepy pool noodle before I drowned you myself.”

“Jackass.” She rolled a towel and put it behind her head, so she could look up at the stars as she floated. “They knew where we were going to be,” she said quietly. “And they used shunshin to hit fast. They covered my range almost before I could get in position.” She rubbed her eyes. It had been a long time since she had had to hold Shizukagan for so long; her eyeballs felt raw. She grimaced. “We took an ANBU route back, and they still hit us. It doesn’t make  _ sense _ .” 

“Are they all dead?”

“No. Two got away clean. We weren’t in a position to pursue. But I’ll know them. Something is going on, Kakashi. Other villages couldn’t have known the route we took back. We switched from the route we’d planned to take, and we still got hit. They were dressed like Kiri-nin, but they weren’t. They didn’t use normal Kirigakure jutsus. The shunshin they used belongs to  _ Konoha _ .”

He shifted. “How can you tell?”

“Every shinobi has their own flow of chakra. But every jutsu has its own chakra  _ pattern. _ You can see it and copy it with your Sharingan. I can’t copy it, but I can still see it when the shizukagan is active.”

He scowled. “If you were active, your range would have been too wide for them to cross before you could get to your team, even with shunshin. Not even Shisui was that fast.”

She yawned again. “They hit just inside of the border. I’d stopped to let my chakra rebuild. Eagle took over cloaking while I re-e-ested.” She smothered another yawn. “Ugh, damn. Kakashi, I am tired. Interrogate me in the morning.”

“I’ll drag your snoring corpse inside in half an hour,” he promised, which made her lip quirk up at the corner. “Any longer and you’ll turn into a pickle.”

She didn’t respond. She was already asleep, the corner of her lip still quirked up. Kakashi turned his attention to the quiet nighttime rustles of a bustling village. He’d have to ask Eagle how quickly they’d been attacked after she had dropped himitsu. 

And if he had recognized any of their faces from the ANBU locker rooms.


	16. Chatter Pt. 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Just a bit of chat.

 

Eagle was waiting for him when Kakashi hopped through his bedroom window. Kakashi sighed. “Most people wait outside, you know,” he scolded as he yanked the curtains closed behind him.

The ANBU shrugged and took his mask off. “Most people aren’t me,” he said mildly. “Besides, you have better security than a fruit orchard.”

Kakashi flopped on his bed and fished his book off of his nightstand. “Whatever, Asao.”

Asao took a bite out of the apple he’d definitely stolen from Kakashi’s refrigerator. “Come on, get it over with. You know you want to ask.”

Kakashi grimaced under his mask. “Did you recognize anyone?”

“It was a five-man squad. Two of them were missing-nin that defected years ago, but other than that, no one was familiar. The one that broke her elbow was from Suna. She says they all used a Konoha jutsu, and I believe her. If I’d have led their mission, I’d have busted them back down to genin. Sloppy.”

Kakashi threw his book at the wall. “Damnit, Asao, you used her as  _ bait!” _

Asao pointed his apple at him. “Don’t be an ass. She handled it. Now we have confirmation she’s being targeted by someone in the village.”

“Mouse hasn’t been seen since the time I let her see me on the roofs.”

“The records say she’s out on a mission.”

“Tsunade hasn’t sent her out on a mission.”

“Interesting, isn’t it.”

Kakashi picked up another book. “Sloppy,” he said.

“Sloppy,” Asao agreed. He tossed the apple core in the trash bin next to Kakashi’s nightstand. “‘Ta,” he said, his mask pulled back over his face.

“Eagle, don’t you pull that creepy—” The ANBU phased through the wall next to Kakashi’s bed. “Ugh. Asshole.”

~!~

Kazeko was in the kitchen chopping vegetables when Asuma leaned against her counter and stole a slice of carrot out from under her knife. 

“Most people would worry about losing their fingers doing that, you know,” she told her chopping.

“Most people don’t have this fancy sash,” he retorted. “You went out on mission.”

“Yes,” she said mildly.

He crunched another carrot. “How did it go?”

She paused. “The same way my missions always wind up going,” she groused. 

“Someone tried to steal your eyeballs.”

“They did not  _ succeed _ in stealing my eyeballs. Besides, they could not have possibly known whose eyeballs they were trying to steal. I was just some ANBU with expensive looking eyes.”

“What did Eagle have to say about it?”

“He said two were missing-nin but the other three were unknowns, that we finished the mission successfully and not to worry about it.”

“And you believe that?”

She gave him a  _ look _ . “Give me some credit, Asuma. It would have been less obvious if they had painted the word ‘bait’ on my back and let me wander around fire country naked. An escort mission for a low-level ambassador doesn’t require ANBU escort, not even in Wave Country.”

She cut the top off of a radish with a particularly vicious chop. “The problem is, I can’t decide if they were using me as bait to draw out another faction, or if they were just trying to kill me off.”

He frowned at her. “They’re not trying to kill you off.”

“How can you be so sure, Asuma?”

He gave her a  _ look _ . “If Eagle was trying to kill you, you’d be dead, and there wouldn’t be anything anyone would be able to do about it.”

“That is  _ not _ reassuring.”

“It should be.” Asuma pulled a cigarette out of his pocket and put it between his lips. “Look, we both had problems with D- with the Sandaime, but so has Tsunade. She’s not him, and she can’t stand the council’s manipulations and prejudiced bullshit. Besides, she’s practical. We’re down so many shinobi right now, she can’t afford to kill off loyal jonin.” 

She snatched the cigarette out of his mouth before he lit it. “And? Would you like to explain why I have an escort Cat swears I wasn’t assigned? Or how a team I was assigned to guard got jumped just inside the border, on an ANBU route no one outside of ANBU is supposed to know about? If I’m bait to flush out traitors, I would like to fucking know about it.”

He raised an eyebrow and snatched his cigarette back. “Sounds like you already know about it to me.”

She huffed. “This is the sort of shit that drives me nuts. I suppose I’ll be back to baking sweet buns and making pretty tarts soon enough. _Too valuable._ _Don’t want to risk you. Blahblahblah.”_

He popped the end of the cigarette back between his lips and scratched his beard. “Probably not,” he said. “I’m sure she’ll just—”

The kitchen door popped open and whacked him in the back. “Kazeko!”

Kazeko put her knife down and bowed to her Hokage. “Lady Tsunade. Would you like some tea?”

Tsunade put her hands on her hips and leveled a stare at the two jonin. “How did the enemy know where you were?”

Kazeko blinked. “My chakra had run low enough I could not activate my dojutsu without risking my eyes.”

Tsunade waved this away. “No, no, no. Eagle had a plan for that. Something else. Only Eagle knew I had told him to switch routes…” She lunged for Kazeko and grabbed her by the shoulders. “Could you have a tracker?”

“I...I…uh…” Kazeko looked at Asuma. “Asuma? Help?”

Asuma settled back against the counter. “I wasn’t in the village for the year you spent under guard, but from what I’ve heard, it was rough enough that the hospital staff reported an entire squad for abuse.”

Tsunade crossed her arms. “When I was evaluating whether or not to reinstate you, I asked to see your medical records. Strangely, I was informed that there  _ were _ no medical records for you after the Uchiha massacre, because you were reported as being among the dead. So I checked ANBU’s records. Imagine my surprise when those  _ also _ listed you as dead. In fact, the only files I could find your continued existence listed on was the Hokage’s personal log.”

Kazeko blinked. “Someone scrubbed my files?”

“Quite thoroughly.”

She frowned. “I spent a good part of that year unconscious or unresponsive. I can’t… I can’t tell anymore which scars are from when. It would have been easy for someone to put a tracking seal or something like that on me at that point…” She wrapped her arms around herself.

“Scars?”

Kazeko blinked and froze.

“Scars,” Asuma answered for her, his hand on her shoulder.

Tsunade folded her arms over her chest. “I would like to see these scars, if you are willing.”

Kazeko nodded. Asuma wet a cloth and held it out for her to take, but Tsunade held up a hand.

“I would prefer to do this somewhere more secure,” she said. “Would you accompany me back to the office?”

“With all due respect,” Asuma said, “I’m not certain the Hokage’s office is as secure as you’d like, Lady Tsunade.”

Tsunade drew herself up, but Kazeko took the cloth from Asuma and stepped past her. “I have a saferoom upstairs, Lady Tsunade. We can continue this there, if that is acceptable to you.”

Tsunade heaved a sigh and turned. “Very well. Lead the way.”


	17. Scar Tissue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kaze shows her scars.

Kazeko stood in front of her Hokage in only her sports bra and shorts, all of her scars on display. Tsunade’s scanning jutsu made the inside of her nose itch, and it kept making her sniffle. 

“Hold still,” Tsunade scolded absently. “Michi, do you have any idea which of these burns happened when?”

The hokage had enlisted the help of her assistant- and her assistant’s trainee- when her first scan showed only scars and the small chakra blockages the seals had left behind. Then she summoned her own student. All five of them were arranged around a complicated array Shizune had painted on the floor of the bakery’s safe room.

Michi shook their head. “Sensei had all of these scars before the Sandaime assigned me to her,” they said. “And she doesn’t like to talk about them. It was a year before I even KNEW about them,” they said reprovingly, “Sensei is very private. Rai might know. He was her bodyguard before… before.”

“Tsunade-sama, Rai Shirutobe is out on mission right now,” Shizune added. “He should return in a week.”

Tsunade put her hands on her hips. “I do not want to wait a week. Nosuri! Activate your dojutsu. Perhaps the seal is only operational when your body undergoes a change in chakra flow.”

Kazeko did, and still, they found nothing.

“Fine. Release it…” The Hokage narrowed her eyes. “Wait! Hold that position.” 

Kazeko blinked, her hands in Tiger. Tsunade stalked forward and peered at her clasped hands. “Ha! Clever bastards,” she said with a feral grin. “Look, Shizune! The seal is  _ two _ seals. It only activates when she uses Tiger or Serpent.” She twisted, examining the small, barely visible scarring on the side of her jonin’s hands. “It really is quite impressive. Very well. Nosuri, activate and release your dojutsu again. Sakura, observe what happens. There! That pulse was the tracking seal. Again! I want to judge the range. Again..!” 

~!~

It was several hours later before Tsunade declared herself satisfied with the diagnostics. Kazeko was on her knees at that point, dripping eyedrops into her sore eyes. 

“The tracker has a range of fifty kilometers, it’s very sophisticated, and we have no idea who it’s keyed to.”

Tsunade tilted her head. “It could be worse, I suppose. Go put some clothes on, Kazeko.”

Kazeko rubbed at her itchy nose. “Thank you, Hokage-sama.”

“Don’t thank me yet,” Tsunade scowled. “I haven’t removed it.”

Kazeko froze. “But… you will..?”

Tsunade crossed her arms. “No,” she said. “ _ You _ will. Today.”

Kazeko took a long inhale. “Michi,” she said. “Bring me my brushes. And a mirror.”

Tsunade nodded. “And while you are at that,” she said. “Sakura, I want you to locate and correct every chakra blockage and burn scar on this patient’s skin.”

“Yes, Hokage-sama.”

~!~

Four hours later, Kazeko was exhausted, cranky, and Michi had scrubbed ink off of the floor at least four times. Tsunade had long since left with Shizune, chased off with the ever-looming threat of paperwork and whatever new crisis Konoha’s shinobi had managed to invent in the past day. Sakura was still seated on Kazeko’s left, working on healing one of the scars on her upper arm. 

Kazeko sighed. “Sakura, when was the last time you ate?”

Sakura frowned, her tongue poked out of the corner of her mouth. “I’m almost done.”

“Irrelevant. I can hear your stomach growling.” Kazeko threw her calligraphy brush down. “Let’s go downstairs. I could use a break anyway. Besides,” she gave the genin a tired smile. “Tsunade would break my bones if I let you exhaust yourself without at least making sure you eat.”

Sakura grinned brightly. “Can I have some of those sweet buns?”

“Sure, kid. And stew. You need more protein…” Kazeko pushed the door open and startled. 

Kakashi glanced up from his book and wiggled his fingers.

“Kakashi-sensei!”

“What are you doing here?”

“Lady Hokage asked me to keep an eye on things while you worked,” he informed them from his chair. “How is it going?”

“We’re going to get something to eat,” Kazeko declared. “It’s going fine.”

He tilted his head. “Your scars look better.”

She flushed, but Sakura preened. “I healed them! I’m not quite done yet, though. Do all shinobi have that many scars, Kakashi-sensei?”

“Hmm. Most of us.” He said awkwardly. “It’s not a  _ peaceful _ job, Sakura.”

“Well I—”

“Sakura,” Kazeko interrupted. “Go see if Michi has something in the kitchen.”

“Yes, Kazeko-sensei,” the girl said. “Can I still have sweet buns?”

“Yes you may.”

“Okay! I’ll finish healing you when I’m done eating!” She shouted over her shoulder as she bolted down the stairs. The jonin sighed.

Kakashi closed his book. “Asuma told me you might have a tracking seal.”

She nodded and showed him the sides of her palms. “Tsunade told me to remove it, but I’m having trouble. ANBU seals are different from what I usually work on.”

“Hmm. Go eat,” he said sternly, “and I’ll look at it after.”

She rolled her eyes, but she followed Sakura down the stairs and let Michi dish her up a very late dinner.

~!~

Kakashi spent a few minutes studying Kazeko’s notes before he turned his sharingan to her scars. “Sakura,” he said first, “you’re having trouble with that one because it is three seals stacked on top of each other.”

“Oh! Thanks, Kakashi-sensei,” she said, and went back to working with the tip of her tongue poking out of her mouth. Kazeko winced as the healing chakra zinged through her skin.

He turned back to Kazeko’s notes. “This mark here, and this one here are flipped,” he said. “It’s just difficult to see them because the scar is worn.”

She corrected her notes. “F— well, shoot. No wonder I couldn’t figure out. Those two are the contact points for the seals. Ow!”

Sakura winced. “Sorry, Kazeko-sensei. Did I do that wrong?”

Kazeko sat in bit of a daze. “No, Sakura,” she said. “It’s just been years since I’ve had feeling in that part of my arm, that’s all. You’ve done an excellent job.”

Sakura sat back on her heels. “I think I’m done, Kakashi-sensei. I can’t find any more places where there are scars and chakra blockages. Except for the scar on her eyebrow, but Tsunade-sensei told me to leave that one alone.”

Kazeko held her arms out for Kakashi to look at, an odd look on her face. 

“Yes, you are, Sakura.” He said finally. “Well done.”

Kazeko ran her hands over her smooth skin. Sakura had done well- there wasn’t a burn mark left to be seen. She grabbed the girl by the shoulders and pulled her into a hug. “You did an  _ excellent _ job, Sakura-chan.” The she held her out from her again with a little watery smile. “I’ll be sure to tell Tsunade-sama that she should be proud of her student.”

Sakura blinked at her patient. “Oh- uh, thank… you? Are… are you okay? I didn’t hurt you, did I?”

Kazeko laughed, a little wild. “No, not at all. Why don’t you go get some rest? Michi can escort you home.”

The girl yawned and stretched before she fumbled upright. She really was exhausted. “Okay. Good-night, Kazeko-sensei, Kakashi-sensei.”

“Good night, Sakura-chan. Thank you for working so hard all day.”

Sakura waved and bumbled out the room and down the stairs. 

Kazeko waited at the door to the safe room until she felt both apprentices leave the neighborhood. Then, suddenly, her eyes ignited. “Kakashi,” she said fiercely, “I think I can break it now.”

“Would you like some help?”

“No, no…” She snatched her brush and inkpot up from her writing desk and turned to the center of the room. “You might want to stay out of the way,” she said, and began to paint. She explained as she painted, broad, fast strokes and hurried, hushed words spilling out of her. “I wanted the kids out of here,” she babbled. “This is probably going to backlash. Sakura did more work than she realized. I haven’t felt like this in  _ years. _ ” She stopped and looked at Kakashi, her eyes wild. He realized that she had tears streaking down her face. “I’m going to be  _ free _ ,” she told him in a whisper. He’d never seen her eyes  _ glow _ like that before. He’d heard of instances when a shinobi experienced euphoria after having their chakra networks healed, but this was… something else. 

She danced the tip of her brush up her arms. “Kaze… maybe you should…”

She stepped into the center of the array she’d painted with a wild grin on her face. He could see at least four circles in it, all overlapped. Shinobi code wriggled completely around the edges of them and spread out in a sunburst from the center, where she stood. She raised her arms, and Kakashi lunged to slam the door to the saferoom closed.

She brought her hands into Tiger. “ _ Release! _ ”

**Light.**


End file.
